There’s a recurring query among the many followers of the Prancing Horse: why did Ferrari utterly overhaul the structure of the automobile after ending second within the 2024 Components 1 Constructors’ Championship, simply 14 factors behind McLaren? Within the final 12 months of the bottom impact rules, the Italian aspect determined to revamp its automobile, introducing 99% new elements in accordance with Ferrari workforce principal Frederic Vasseur himself.
This concern has been broadly debated not solely on social media but additionally amongst numerous insiders: why wasn’t the SF-24 improvement continued, particularly contemplating it completed final season near the McLaren automobiles, whereas the SF-25, after three races, has plummeted to fourth place among the many high groups, with a drastic drop in competitiveness?
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have already gathered a 76-point deficit to McLaren within the Constructors’ Championship forward of the Bahrain Grand Prix, having scored solely 35 factors thus far in comparison with 111 from the Woking workforce, whereas Mercedes has earned 75 factors and Purple Bull, which runs just one automobile within the high 10, Max Verstappen‘s, has gathered 61 factors. There couldn’t have been a worse begin for the Maranello workforce, however the Italian aspect by no means thought-about deploying a “carry over” automobile.
The arrival of Lewis Hamilton was a further push to intention for a leap in high quality, with the idea that Ferrari may intention for 2 World Championships earlier than the drastic regulatory modifications anticipated for the 2026 Components 1 season.
So why was the 2025 automobile redesigned? The reply could be very easy: the SF-24 had only a few prospects for aerodynamic enchancment and its improvement would have been restricted in comparison with the evolution that rivals had deliberate.
The selection, due to this fact, was proper, and within the 2025 finances cap, a major quantity was allotted to approve a brand new chassis with the cockpit moved additional again and a shorter, sleeker gearbox.
The thought was to shift the burden distribution barely towards the rear with the intention to supply extra freedom to the aerodynamic workforce led by Diego Tondi. The SF-25 single-seater was designed to be beneath the burden restrict of 800 kilograms to have the choice of reaching the proper steadiness by introducing ballast within the entrance wing, permitting the 0.5% weight distribution tolerance permitted by the rules to be adjusted as desired.
Moreover, the aerodynamic division had requested the chassis chief, Fabio Montecchi, to modify from the standard push rod entrance suspension to a pull rod system, already in use by Purple Bull and McLaren. The wants, due to this fact, weren’t mechanical however stemmed from the idea that wind tunnel testing may yield extra downforce for efficiency.
And evidently, the info rising from the winter simulations needed to be constructive in comparison with the SF-24, fueling the championship hopes that have been repeatedly raised by the drivers and workforce leaders.
In China and Japan, we noticed F1 automobiles that have been about 1.5 seconds quicker than the earlier 12 months, which is a big enchancment contemplating that, often, by the top of a regulatory cycle, just a few tenths are discovered as a result of groups are already scraping the barrel with mature automobiles. Nonetheless, the home of playing cards started to break down in the course of the preseason testing session on the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit, when it turned clear that McLaren was extra aggressive and Ferrari was struggling.
Initially, consideration was centered on the pull rod suspension: with the brand new setup, there may need been a necessity to regulate the setup, as very totally different stiffness changes are required. However the “concern” with the SF-25 automobile was not discovered there. Observers then shifted their focus to the rear finish, pointing to the transmission: the miniaturized carbon gearbox may endure damaging torsions, stopping the rear from being sufficiently stiff to make the automobile responsive in path modifications, leading to annoying understeer that was closely criticized by the drivers.
The Ferrari SF-25 automobile was designed to be centered on the entrance, as each Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton desire, with nice nook entry, however in actuality, it has considerably improved in high-speed sections, because of good aerodynamic effectivity, whereas it has misplaced its traction and dealing with in low-speed corners.
So, what’s lacking for Ferrari? One would possibly say the aerodynamic downforce that presses the automobile onto the observe floor and generates the power to switch to the tires. With out sufficient downforce, the workforce is compelled to make use of minimal floor clearance, figuring out that the nearer the automobile is to the bottom, the extra the ground can create downforce. However the put on on the plank must be taken into consideration: the FIA permits consumption of 1 of the ten mm thickness of the plank, after which disqualifications are triggered, as occurred to Lewis Hamilton in China.
Past the embarrassment {that a} prestigious workforce like Ferrari shouldn’t enable, it’s evident that discovering speedy countermeasures just isn’t simple. The primary improve package deal for the SF-25 was scheduled for Imola, on the debut of the European season, however after the Sakhir exams, it’s attainable that the event plans have been introduced ahead based mostly on what emerged from the wind tunnel work.
So, we are able to count on modifications to the ground in Bahrain, together with different particulars, but it surely’s arduous to suppose the hole to the MCL39 and the improved Purple Bull could be closed in a single go, as a result of the 3-4 tenths hole just isn’t simple to scale back, as others received’t stand nonetheless both.
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