Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur sees the team profiting from a Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc title fight, rather than suffering.

A new era is on the horizon at Ferrari after the team opted against extending the contract of Carlos Sainz in order to bring in seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who activated an exit clause in his Mercedes contract to make the switch to Maranello from F1 2025.

Lewis Hamilton v Charles Leclerc a Ferrari ‘performance’ benefit

At Ferrari Hamilton will become team-mate to Charles Leclerc, the star graduate of the Ferrari Driver Academy who has raced with the team since 2019 in pursuit of bringing title glory back to the famed Italian squad.

Ferrari finished runner-up in the 2024 Constructors’ standings with five grand prix wins claimed – three for Leclerc and two for Sainz – with sights set on pushing for a title double next season.

However, as Hamilton chases his record eighth World Championship, and Leclerc looks to prove he is the driver that will take Ferrari back to the F1 summit, does team boss Fred Vasseur fear an incoming headache if he has to manage a title feud between his Ferrari drivers?

As it turns out, not at all. Instead, he believes such a situation would benefit Ferrari as it would boost performance.

Asked by Sky F1 if Hamilton versus Leclerc for the 2025 title would be a ‘happy headache’, Vasseur replied: “Yeah, I prefer to fight for one, two than for 19, 20, this is clear.

“And I think it’s also part of the performance, clearly. The last two years I let them race on track and it was for the benefit of the team, because the emulation that we created like this was part of the recovery when we had tough times.

“And they had huge respect between them and we had a good moment this morning with the father of Carlos [farewell Fiorano track day] and it was very nice.

“It’s part of the performance of the team.”

It is safe to say that Ferrari marks a clear culture shift for Hamilton, but ex-Ferrari team principal, now F1 president Stefano Domenicali, explained that Hamilton is already at work for that transition.

“He will bring a lot of interest,” Domenicali told Autoracer on Hamilton’s Ferrari move.

“He is learning to speak Italian and to understand how to integrate into our culture. I told him, it is fundamental for him to be able to do this as well. In Ferrari he will find a different environment than before.”