Ferrari still adapting to radical design tweak after race pace struggles in F1 testing
After trailing McLaren in F1 pre-season testing, Ferrari have work to do to extract more from the SF-25.
Ferrari are still trying to extract the most performance from their 2025 F1 car after making a significant change to the front suspension.
Ferrari have adopted a front pull rod suspension for the SF-25, moving away from the push rod in recent years.
This major change, led by new recruit Loic Serra, is likely to have greater potential in terms of development and thus laptime.
However, after three days of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, Ferrari has yet to maximise its new design choice.
According to Motorsport.It, while there are “unquestionable advantages” with the front pull rod suspension, which McLaren and Red Bull also use, Ferrari still need to fine-tune it at a “mechanical level”.
It is thought that Serra, who was signed from Mercedes, is a specialist in suspension design.
Ferrari explained the reason for the change in a press release during their car launch, stating: “The thinking behind this change in architecture was to clean up the airflow around the car, while also giving greater scope for further aero development, which had pretty much been exhausted with the previous iteration”.
On the third day of testing in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc cited some “balance” issues with the SF-25.
Ferrari struggled to keep up with McLaren over a race stint in Bahrain.
Leclerc trailed Lando Norris by around 0.5s across a race simulation on day two.
Work to do ahead of Australia for Ferrari
Testing was far from perfect for Ferrari, behind McLaren and Mercedes on race pace.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli matched Leclerc across his race run in Bahrain, and given the Italian’s lack of experience, it’s likely George Russell would have been faster had he been driving.
Lewis Hamilton was unable to complete a race run at the end of day three after Ferrari ended his test early due to an “anomaly” in the data.
As noted by the same report, Ferrari was running less downforce than McLaren during the test, evidenced by their medium-load rear wing.
Perhaps this impacted Ferrari’s tyre wear - a strength of theirs - during the 2024 campaign.
The balance of the car also shifted throughout the test.
With less downforce on the rear, there was initially a more oversteer balance, which Leclerc likes.
However, this turned into understeer as the test progressed - something Ferrari will have to get on top of for Australia.
With the unusually cool track temperatures and abrasive tarmac, Australia will likely be a different story for F1’s top four teams.
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