WeeklySA_AdminEMBRACE THE CHANGE: The 2025 Formula 1 season starts in Australia in mid-March and ends in Abu Dhabi in early December
By Motoring Reporter
The record-breaking 2024 season has come to a close with Max Verstappen a four-time title winner and McLaren the constructors’ champions for the first time since 1998.
Attention now turns to the 2025 campaign, the 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Championship, where big names are moving to rival teams and exciting rookies are joining the grid.
The news that Lewis Hamilton had signed a multi-year deal with Ferrari was released before the 2024 season had even begun, so the excitement levels for finally seeing the seven-time world champion in red are sky-high.
After 12 years and six individual titles with Mercedes, Hamilton – who turned 40 in January – is leaving to partner Charles Leclerc at the Italian team. The first glimpse of Hamilton driving for Ferrari will be at pre-season testing in Bahrain from February 26-28, before the 2025 season opener in Australia from March 14-16.
Hamilton says he “could not be more excited” as he embarks on his new career at Ferrari in 2025.
The seven-time champion, whose contract with the Italian team started on 1 January, said he was “embracing new opportunities, staying hungry, and driving forward with purpose”.
Hamilton chose a post on LinkedIn to make his first comments since joining Ferrari, adding: “Let’s make it one to remember.”
He wrote: “Moving to Scuderia Ferrari, there’s a lot to reflect on. “To anyone considering their next move in 2025: embrace the change.
“Whether you’re switching industries, learning a new skill, or even just taking on new challenges, remember that reinvention is powerful. Your next opportunity is always within reach.”
Hamilton has also posted on social media a picture of him racing in karting as a boy wearing a helmet in red, Ferrari’s colour.
He joins Ferrari on the eve of his 40th birthday on 7 January as team-mate to Charles Leclerc in what many in the sport regard as the strongest driver line-up on the grid.
Ferrari finished 2024 on a high, narrowly missing out on beating McLaren to the constructors’ championship.
Leclerc scored more points than any driver – and Ferrari more than any rival team – from the Dutch Grand Prix, the race after the sport’s summer break, to the end of the season.
Hamilton has a short but intense period to adapt to his new team before the start of the season in Melbourne, Australia on March 14-16.
Ferrari have given few details of their plans for Hamilton, but he will visit the factory, drive the simulator, and do some days in a 2023 car, activities aimed at getting used to the new team and the way the car is operated.
The 2025 Ferrari will be launched on February 19, one day after F1’s first official season launch at the O2 in London.
The official pre-season test days will be on February 26-28 in Bahrain, with Hamilton and Leclerc dividing their time in the new car equally.
Team principal Frederic Vasseur said at Ferrari’s official Christmas lunch last month that Hamilton’s first six weeks with the team were “critical”.
“It is not easy but he is coming with his own experience,” Vasseur said. “But he is not the rookie of the year, I am not worried at all about this. It is also the continuity of the previous regulations so we have some reference. I am not worried but it is true it is a challenge.”
Vasseur expects 2025 to be a close battle for the championship between Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes.
Mercedes have opted to go down the rookie route by naming 18-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli as the driver to replace the departing Hamilton. The Italian has been promoted after just one season in Formula 2.
With Hamilton incoming – and Leclerc securing a lengthy contract extension in January – Carlos Sainz was left searching for a new home after four seasons with Ferrari.
Fans can look forward to another 24-race calendar, although there are a couple of fresh things to look out for in 2025.
Australia returns to its traditional position as the first grand prix of the new season, while Bahrain and Saudi Arabia move to an April slot because of the timing of the holy month of Ramadan.
The nine-month campaign finishes in Abu Dhabi on 7 December. Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium will host its first sprint race since 2023, joining Shanghai, Miami, Austin, Sao Paulo and Qatar as part of the six events for next year.
The Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will stage its penultimate race, with the event dropping off the calendar after 2026. As this is a milestone year for Formula 1, the entire grid will be coming together for a special two-hour season launch event on 18 February.
Fans will gather at the O2 Arena in London from 20:00 GMT to watch all 10 teams show off their 2025 liveries together – a change from the usual individual unveilings.
How much of the newly developed cars we will get to see other than the liveries, however, remains a bit of a mystery.-BBC Sport News
Motoring: Briefs
DRIVES YOU MAD
It seems that bad news is imminent and that motorists should brace for a significant fuel price hike in February 2025. Early data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) indicates substantial under-recoveries across all major fuel types, suggesting notable hikes at the pumps.
The anticipated adjustments for February 2025 include a 68-cent per litre increase for Petrol 93, about a 64-cent rise for Petrol 95, and a 70-cent per litre hike for Diesel 500 ppm. Diesel 50 ppm is projected to increase by approximately 74 cents per litre, while Illuminating Paraffin could see a 49-cent increase.
Several key factors are driving these expected increases. The price of Brent Crude oil has risen significantly since December 2024, contributing to higher import costs. Additionally, the South African rand has weakened slightly against the strengthened US dollar, making oil imports more expensive.
TOYOTA COROLLA CROSS
Amost a year ago, the facelifted Toyota Corolla Cross was revealed in Thailand. Now, ahead of this updated locally built crossover’s official market launch in South Africa, we can confirm pricing.
As a reminder, the Prospecton-produced Corolla Cross was Mzansi’s 2nd best-selling passenger vehicle in 2024 (behind only the likewise locally made Volkswagen Polo Vivo), with nearly 22 000 units registered around the country last year.
The facelifted portfolio again comprises 7 derivatives, including 4 grades – Xi, XS, XR and GR Sport (or GR-S, for short). As before, the line-up kicks off with the Corolla Cross 1.8 Xi, with this entry-level derivative now priced at R414 800 (up R6 400 compared with the pre-facelift version). The naturally aspirated 1.8-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine remains, sending an unchanged 103 kW and 172 Nm to the front wheels via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
Next comes the Corolla Cross 1.8 XS at R452 200, followed by the Corolla Cross 1.8 Hybrid XS at R494 400 (both increases of R8 300). The latter variant’s powertrain likewise carries over unchanged, with this hybrid set-up offering a combined system output of 90 kW (plus 142 Nm from the petrol motor).
HILUX RULES, OK
2024 was yet another year in which South Africa’s automotive market failed to reach its true potential. According to figures released by Naamsa, 515,712 new vehicles were sold last year, which is 3% less than the 531,775 units registered in 2023.
While passenger vehicle sales (351,302) increased by 1.1% year-on-year, light commercial vehicles saw a 12% decline. Unsurprisingly, the Toyota Hilux emerged as the country’s favourite vehicle overall, with 32,656 cumulative sales between January and December, representing a monthly average of 2,711.
Runner-up was Volkswagen’s Polo Vivo, which found 25,913 homes in 2024, or 2,159 per month on average, and it only narrowly beat the Ford Ranger, which managed 25,533 sales throughout the year.
HIGH VOLTAGE
Electric car sales rose by 25 percent globally last year, surging in China but slowing in Europe, according to figures published Tuesday by the British consultancy Rho Motion. A record 17.1 million battery electric vehicles (excluding plug-in hybrids) were sold last year across the world, according to figures compiled by the firm.
China pulled further ahead as the world’s leading market for electric cars, with 11 million sold, an increase of 40 percent from 2023. In Europe (including Britain, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), sales slipped by three percent to three million vehicles after four years of strong growth. In an overall declining market in Europe hybrids took the largest market share at the expense of petrol and diesel vehicles.
Electric vehicle sales also rose in the United States and Canada, climbing nine percent to 1.8 million vehicles. Rho Motion noted that government measures, or the absence of them, play an important role in the sales dynamics as electric vehicles remain considerably more expensive.
