Has 2025 been Ferrari’s worst season start in modern F1?

Fifth in the championship, 17 points. Such is Ferrari’s situation, two grands prix into the 2025 Formula 1 campaign. The Scuderia was a pre-season favorite alongside McLaren, but has not lived up to expectations thus far – though it’s not the first time in the last decade and a half with the current points system for the top 10 finishers of a grand prix.

 2025 – 5th, 17 points (after two rounds)

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

2025 currently is Ferrari’s worst season start since the current points system was introduced. This may sound cruel given how much potential the SF-25 has; it currently is one of the best cars in the field. However, fate has not been on its side.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were quick in Melbourne but ended up seventh and eighth on the grid as Ferrari mismanaged its qualifying. The mixed-weather race threw a spanner in the works, with Ferrari gambling on staying out on slicks as the rain returned to Albert Park. Hamilton briefly led but the downpour intensified and both drivers had to pit again, emerging in the lower top-10 positions. They finished eighth and 10th.

Hamilton took sprint pole and won the shorter race of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, but the red cars struggled further during the remainder of the weekend. They finished just fifth and sixth on Sunday, and to make matters worse, both were disqualified: Leclerc’s car was underweight, while Hamilton’s rear skid block was excessively worn.

This dropped Ferrari down to fifth in the constructors’ championship, with 17 points – its worst start since 2009. The highest-placed Ferrari-powered racer in the standings is Haas’ Esteban Ocon, in seventh.

2020 – 5th, 19 points (after two rounds)

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000 and Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000 crash at the start of the race

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Ferrari was highly scrutinized before the 2020 season even started, after its 2019 engine’s legality was debated and Carlos Sainz was signed to replace four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. The Prancing Horse’s new car, the SF-1000, hadn’t been too promising in testing, and team principal Mattia Binotto was not bullish.

When the season eventually got going at the Austrian Grand Prix in July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Charles Leclerc and Vettel qualified only seventh and 11th. Leclerc made the most of numerous incidents and raced to second, while Vettel spun as he optimistically attempted to overtake Sainz’s McLaren; the German finished 10th.

Ferrari collected 19 points, but the following Styrian Grand Prix – also at Red Bull Ring – turned out worse. In a wet qualifying session, Vettel barely made it to Q3 ahead of Leclerc, who was awarded a three-place grid penalty for impeding Daniil Kvyat in Q2.

Leclerc then braked too late in Turn 3 and hit his team-mate, who retired on the spot. The Monegasque suffered the same fate a few laps later: a double retirement. Things did not get much better in the following months either, and the Scuderia finished sixth in the constructors’ championship – its worst result since 1980.

2014 – 3rd, 30 points (after two rounds)

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14T, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14T

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

The 2014 season, the first in the hybrid turbo era, turned out to be one of the worst for the Scuderia, as Kimi Raikkonen returned to Maranello alongside Fernando Alonso for the Spaniard’s last season before his move to McLaren.

Yet, the first two grands prix were not disastrous. Both drivers scored points, with three top-10 finishes, but the new car just underperformed compared to its rivals, with a lack of power.

Alonso qualified fifth in Australia, while Raikkonen took 11th on the grid due to engine problems. As Nico Rosberg dominated the race for Mercedes, Alonso finished fourth and Raikkonen seventh – with the latter outpaced by Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.

In Malaysia, the F14 Ts started from the second and third rows alongside the Red Bulls and behind the Silver Arrows. However, Raikkonen was hit by Kevin Magnussen early on, and a puncture dropped him down the field; he eventually claimed 12th under the checkered flag. Alonso did keep up with the leaders and overtook Hulkenberg for fourth late on.

Ferrari was then third in the constructors’ championship with 30 points, and eventually stood fourth at the end of the campaign, 485 points down on Mercedes. This was the first time since 1993 the Scuderia took no race victory in a season, and a struggling Raikkonen ended up outside the top 10 in the drivers’ standings.

2009 – 10th, no points (after two rounds)

Felipe Massa, Ferrari F60

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Although 2009 was the last F1 season with the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system, Ferrari’s campaign started so horrendously that it was worth a mention.

With new technical rules in place, the new F-60 machinery’s flaws were apparent, though Felipe Massa and Raikkonen qualified seventh and ninth at Albert Park, then inherited sixth and seventh on the grid. Massa made the most of first-corner drama to grab third on the opening lap, with his team-mate up to fifth. However, Raikkonen eventually spun and finished 15th, while hydraulic trouble took Massa out of the race.

Things did not improve in Malaysia, where monsoon-like conditions shortened the race. Raikkonen and Massa started just seventh and 16th, and Ferrari gambled on the Finn pitting for full-wet tyres when the first drops of rain were spotted – but he destroyed his tyres on a track that remained very dry then.

When the downpour finally came, the race was definitively red-flagged with Massa ninth and Raikkonen 14th, which left Ferrari last in the standings without a single point to its name. In a campaign where tragedy struck as Massa suffered a near-death accident at the Hungaroring, the Scuderia eventually scored 70 points, rising to fourth in the championship – Brawn GP was victorious with 172.