Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 season started with an early disappointment, as the SF-25 failed to deliver on expectations in Melbourne.
A combination of driver errors, strategic missteps, and an underwhelming race pace turned what initially looked like a promising weekend into a frustrating one.
Ferrari now hopes that this setback was merely an anomaly rather than a sign of deeper underlying issues.
The sharp decline in Ferrari’s performance between Friday and Saturday was striking.
Ferrari arrived in Australia with the same aerodynamic configuration used in Bahrain tests, focusing on optimising the car for wet conditions. However, compared to Red Bull, Ferrari was clearly running a higher downforce rear wing.
What initially seemed promising - Ferrari topping Friday’s timesheets with strong race pace in FP2 - turned sour as the weekend progressed. Unlike its rivals, which found gains in qualifying, Ferrari stagnated.
The main culprit appears to be the pursuit of additional downforce, which resulted in the SF-25 being 5-6 km/h (3-4mph) slower on the straights (with DRS closed) than its competitors.
Additionally, both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc suffered from suboptimal outlaps in Q3, struggling to bring their tyres into the right temperature window.
This proved costly, particularly in the slower corners of the final sector, where they lost valuable time compared to McLaren. The increased downforce should have aided stability, but instead, the car exhibited an unusual combination of understeer on entry and oversteer on exit, indicative of a delicate balance issue, possibly linked to tyre preparation and an overly sensitive set-up.
This could be a bad sign that the car is too sensitive to set-up changes.
Bouncing back or too much caution?
In his post-qualifying debrief, Leclerc made no secret of his frustration: "I think we've lost relative competitiveness compared to [Friday]. We know what we've changed, so we'll have to look into it for sure."
Leclerc hinted that the team had made significant set-up changes at the expense of raw performance. Notably new technical director (chassis) Loic Serra was present in Australia, closely monitoring Ferrari’s operations throughout the weekend.
One major factor behind the drop in competitiveness appears to be an apparent increase in ride height from Friday to Saturday, likely as a precautionary measure against excessive skid wear, a costly issue that led to Ferrari’s disqualification at Austin back in 2023.
While there’s no concrete evidence that the SF-25 suffered from bouncing in Melbourne, the decision to raise the floor suggests concerns about compliance with FIA regulations. The bumpy nature of the Albert Park circuit, combined with aggressive kerbs, may have influenced this conservative approach.
Looking ahead to Shanghai, where the surface is considerably smoother, Ferrari will be eager to determine whether these adjustments were a one-off necessity or a sign of a more fundamental sensitivity to set-up changes.
The Chinese Grand Prix could provide crucial insights into whether the SF-25 can challenge at the front or whether this early-season stumble points to a longer-term struggle for competitiveness.
