It’s been a sluggish start to the 2025 campaign for Ferrari, having accumulated only 35 points with one sprint race win to show in terms of silverware. With Lewis Hamilton joining, they had hoped to be a title-contending force. However, on-track reality has been anything but that.
Both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have insisted that there is untapped potential in the SF-25, which could help them challenge the frontrunners later in the season. So, to explore the same, Ferrari is reportedly bringing upgrades to the next race in Bahrain, per Corriere.
Team principal Frederic Vasseur has hinted at a new upgrade package, which includes a revised floor. If it improves the car’s performance, as both drivers have suggested it might, it would be ideal for the Italian team’s championship hopes.
Regardless, Hamilton and Leclerc know the SF-25 won’t become a race-winning car overnight. Even Vasseur highlighted that they have some issues to fix before they can extract the best out of the changes.
“They [upgrades] will arrive soon. But before we bring new features and raise the performance level, we need to fix the balance problems we had,” the Frenchman said after the Japanese GP.
Vasseur was referring to the rear axle stiffness, which was also brought to the team’s attention by Hamilton. But Leclerc mentioned in China that they were losing around three-tenths of a second to McLaren, which could be due to multiple factors beyond just the rear-end issue.
| Ferrari is developing new parts for Bahrain to fix rear suspension rigidity and long-run instability issues. pic.twitter.com/jdsGC1UxdU
— La Gazzetta Ferrari (@GazzettaFerrari) March 24, 2025
So Vasseur wants to iron out these chinks in their armor first before they start putting new parts on the car. Ferrari dearly paid the price of hurrying their upgrade package in Spain last year, as it did not yield the correlation with their simulator and wind tunnel data. Eventually, they had to roll back the upgrade and wait until Monza to introduce a fresh package that got them back into contention for wins.
As things stand, Ferrari is already on the back foot. So, it makes sense why Vasseur wouldn’t want to complicate their situation by worsening the car’s performance.
Nevertheless, Ferrari has to act fast to keep their title hopes alive. They are already 76 points behind McLaren in P4 in the Constructors’ standings. Failing to get their act together in the coming races could force them to throw in the towel already and focus on next year, which would be immeasurably disappointing for the Maranello-based outfit.
