Despite all eyes being on Lewis Hamilton, who will be joining Ferrari for the next two seasons, Charles Leclerc remains confident in his ability to fight for the Formula 1 drivers’ title in 2025.

The Monegasque driver believes that with the right car, Ferrari can challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull for the championship in the upcoming season.

"I feel like I'm ready for the championship," Leclerc told RacingNews365.

"We [Ferrari] just need a car that, throughout the season, is capable of doing that."

"I'm fully confident that the next team to be able to do that and to beat Red Bull, especially, for the championship will be us."

Leclerc had his most successful season to date in 2024, securing three wins, 13 podiums, and a career-best 356 points. However, despite these achievements, he finished third in the standings, 84 points behind Verstappen, while Ferrari narrowly missed out on the Constructors’ title to McLaren.

The team's strong end to the season has only heightened expectations for 2025, and with Hamilton now in the mix, the challenge for Leclerc to secure his first world title has become even more intense. Still, heis optimistic that, with Ferrari delivering the right car, he can overcome his new internal competition and take the crown.

Reflecting on his growth as a driver, Leclerc admitted that he has matured since the difficult 2023 season, where mistakes and missed opportunities saw him finish fifth in the championship.

"I improved in the way that I accept more when a weekend is not going exactly the way I want," he said.

"Whereas in the past, if things were not going exactly the way I want, if the car was not exactly the way I wanted, I was trying to find something within the car that was not there, and that was pushing me to do mistakes."

"That was pushing me also sometimes to do something really good when things were not there, but I felt like it was biting [me] more than it will reward me - and on that, I improved a lot.

"I felt like I maximised points a lot more over the course of the season, but that doesn't mean that I will never cross that line again.

"It's always a game of trying to get as close as possible to limit without ever stepping on it, but I feel like I've done a step forward on that, yes."