Ferrari slip behind F1 rivals in SHOCK result leaving Lewis Hamilton with huge rebuild

Hamilton, Ferrari, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

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Ferrari slip behind F1 rivals in SHOCK result leaving Hamilton with huge rebuild

Ferrari are hoping Lewis Hamilton can take them to the F1 title

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Saturday 4 January 2025 17:57

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There were plenty of ups and down in Formula 1 during 2024, with some more unexpected than others.

But perhaps little did the F1 world expect that at the final race of the season, it would be McLaren and Ferrari fighting it out for the world championship, with Red Bull severely dropping off despite Max Verstappen hanging on to secure a fourth consecutive drivers' world championship.

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McLaren of course took the prize thanks to Lando Norris's win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to secure their first constructors' crown since 1998.

And now it's double success for the Woking outfit after a GPFans poll in our annual awards showed that they been voted the most improved team across the course of the season.

The team under the stewardship of CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella have turned their fortunes around from back of the grid strugglers to the best in the business in little under two years, and the fan vote revealed they were backed by well over 80 per cent of readers.

McLaren were voted the most improved team in 2024

Haas grab march on Ferrari

Ferrari may have taken second place in the overall standings but they didn't even take that in our poll, with Haas securing 11 per cent of the vote after successfully overcoming the exit of long time team boss Guenther Steiner, with Ayao Komatsu helping them go from last to seventh in 2024 with a string of regular points finishes.

Alpine and Ferrari polled similar figures in the other two teams in contention, with the French-Anglo outfit starting the season in disarray before the return of Flavio Briatore helped spike a revival - headlined by a double podium in Brazil to take sixth in the constructors' championship.

Ferrari will of course target improvement in 2025 with the arrival of Lewis Hamilton to the team from Mercedes, but they will not settle for second place as the seven-time champion will only have eyes on a title push for 2025 - a first for the team in drivers' and constructors since 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Meanwhile there was no place for Red Bull in our poll, with the team's mid-season collapse from comfortably leading both world championships means they clearly have work to do to get back to the top in 2025 and beyond.