Dr Helmut Marko doubts Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari switch will yield a 2025 title, despite the fanfare surrounding the move.

The Red Bull advisor sees McLaren as Melbourne's obvious frontrunner, with his team close behind. "Ferrari is, according to our calculations, the third strongest force, just ahead of Mercedes," he told RTL.

"And in Bahrain, (Charles) Leclerc was clearly faster than Hamilton. But that's normal. He (Leclerc) knows the team, he knows the car. Hamilton drove a lot of laps and gradually improved, but he wasn't quite at Leclerc's level. But it's early days."

"We know that Hamilton can improve supernaturally," Marko added, "but it could also be the case that if the factors don't line up and he sees no chance of winning, his motivation will drop a little."

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur, speaking at Thursday's Milan street event, conceded a gap exists to the very top. "They are in a better position than us," he said of McLaren.

"This is the last year of the current regulations and performance gains are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. It's true that we scored the most points in the last eight races of 2024, but they (McLaren) had a real performance advantage that they didn't exploit as much as they should have due to small problems or missed opportunities. But if we can gain two or three tenths, we'll have every chance."

Ralf Schumacher dismissed parallels to his older brother Michael Schumacher's 1996 Ferrari arrival. "When Michael went to Ferrari, he was not only the current world champion, but also the acknowledged best driver. Neither of these things applies to Lewis anymore," he told Sky Deutschland.

"Nevertheless, Michael still needed five hard years to win his first Ferrari title. Lewis doesn't have that time." And he warned: "If things aren't going well by [six months], all this euphoria will quickly turn into criticism."

Vasseur, meanwhile, sees Leclerc thriving this year, rather than succumbing to the pressure of having an ultra-famous driver like Hamilton next to him.

"From day one, I was convinced that Charles would only benefit from Lewis' arrival," he said. "Maybe it will take some pressure off him and he will be able to focus more on himself."

Schumacher, however, predicts that 2025 will be the year for McLaren to finally return to the very top of Formula 1 - knocking Red Bull and Max Verstappen from the perch.

"Pierre Wache is no Adrian Newey," he said.

"Max will have to get used to the idea that everything ends someday. I don't think he has a chance this season, no. Maybe it will help him decide what to do next, but either way, it will be a difficult decision." body check tags ::