Ferrari has made a significant change to its new Formula 1 car for 2025 as it strives to find more performance in the fourth year of the current technical regulations.
In order to increase the potential for development gains with the new SF-25, the team decided to switch its front suspension from a push-rod to a pull-rod configuration. They committed to this change – which matches the approach used by Red Bull, among others – early last year, before its new technical director for chassis Loic Serra arrived.
Like all teams, Ferrari faces a compressed time-scale to get its new machine ready for racing. It hit the track for the first time yesterday at Fiorano and they will have just three days of track testing at Bahrain International Circuit next week.
As team principal Frederic Vasseur explained, the team must consider multiple factors when deciding its development plan for the SF-25. Not only will F1 introduce drastically new regulations for the chassis and power unit next year, but changes to the front wing rules will arrive at the Spanish Grand Prix this season.
All team bosses therefore need to think carefully about how long they focus on developing their 2025 cars, and how soon they focus wholly on next season. Those unlikely to be in championship contention this year face an easier decision. But Ferrari, who were close runners-up in the constructors’ title fight last year, may find themselves tempted to continue development of their current car for longer.
“If we have to create [something], we can’t react after June, for example,” Vasseur told media including RaceFans yesterday. “We know that the lead time is quite important for big parts and probably in the summer time we’ll all be fully focussed on 2026.”
“If you have a look at the previous change of regulations at the end of ’21 when you had the fight between Mercedes and Red Bull, they were able to bring upgrades [to] the last couple of events,” he noted.
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Ferrari will wait to see how the opening races unfold before deciding their priorities. “Even if you decide now that ‘we do it like this, like this, like this,’ let’s see after a couple of races in the championship where you are,” said Vasseur.
“If you are one second behind, it makes no sense to continue to develop. If you are one second in front you can be focussed a little bit on ’26. But I think these two scenarios are not realistic at all.”
“For sure if we have to develop the current car, it would be the first couple of races,” he added. “And then I think everybody will – I don’t want to say that we will stop the current car, but we’ll be more focussed on ’26.
“It means that the first races and the first upgrade that we will bring for the car will be crucial for the season and for sure we’ll bring something in the early stage into the season.”
Vasseur is pleased the FIA confirmed coming changes to its wing flexibility tests before the season began. Rear wings will be subject to new tests from the first round and front wings will face tougher tests from the Spanish Grand Prix – a round where teams often bring new upgrade packages.
“It’s good to have clarity,” he said. “The most important [point] for me is to know that we have to change something on the front wing by Barcelona, for example.
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“You can discuss about the timing because it’s the week after Monaco and we need to come to Monaco with a full package of front wings. But at the end of the day it’s good for us, it’s good for the development and the [preparation] to know when we have to bring something.
“The worst case scenario [is] we would have to start the season like we are today and in two or three races to come with a TD [FIA technical directive] to change something because it’s much more difficult to [react] in this case, it would have been a mess. But honestly, we all know the situation, we were all planning to bring an upgrade on the front wing during the season, and like this we know that we’d have to do it by Barcelona.”
Ferrari’s 2024 campaign suffered after it discovered that a mid-season upgrade did not perform as expected. The team has invested in upgrading its facilities to improve the accuracy of its developments. However Vasseur said they are chasing smaller gains in the fourth year of F1’s current rules, and they must ensure theoretical improvements do not compromise their drivers’ ability to get the most out of the car.
“The competition is getting closer and closer and we are more and more speaking about details,” he said. “When we are bringing an upgrade now we are speaking about a small [gain]. For sure, we need to have good tools to be able to quantify it and to do good choices. It means that tools are more and more crucial.
“Also, because the driveability [matters more for] performance than in the past with the current regulations, it means that the simulator is important, also. I think we did a good step on all our tools. It’s not a secret that we did a step on the wind tunnel last year, that we are in continuous improvement on every single tool and department.
“But it’s not just about the operation, it’s also the tools that we have in the entire structure. This is a continuous improvement approach. It’s not that one day you are happy and you will have something good forever. If you don’t change every single year and try to improve every single year at one stage you will be behind the others.”
He sees no reason to believe the close contest between F1’s leading teams will have changed during the off-season. “I think it’s going to be the continuity of last year with four teams able to win races, able to win the championship, and it will be a good fight.”
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