With the introduction of a new floor at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari showed some small steps forward, but there’s still a lot of work to do to close the gap to McLaren.
Ferrari is coming off a generally positive Bahrain Grand Prix. Leclerc’s fourth-place finish and Hamilton’s fifth aren’t exactly dream results for the Maranello team, but with the new floor and minor aerodynamic updates, there were some signs of improvement—at least in terms of race pace. The mandatory switch to hard tyres after the Safety Car nullified the opportunity to fight for the team’s first podium of the season..
Now Formula 1 is in Saudi Arabia for the third race in a row and the fifth round of the season. On the ultra-fast Jeddah circuit, the Scuderia plans to bring more updates to make the most of the track layout and push for their first podium of 2025. According to Autoracer, Ferrari is reportedly considering running a lower-downforce rear wing to fully exploit the long straights and fast corners that define the Saudi Arabian track.
No official decision has been made yet, and much more should become clear during the first free practice session. But it’s not just about the rear wing—Ferrari showed strong race pace in the middle stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix, running at around 65% fuel load, which opened a better performance window for the medium tyres. This is an important factor, especially considering that the SF-25 struggled with tyre wear in Suzuka but could benefit from the lower degradation offered by the Saudi track.
Given the data collected in Bahrain, Ferrari’s engineers could fully exploit the new floor (worth around one-tenth of a second in lap time) by adjusting the car’s ride height—one of the team’s main weaknesses so far this season. With lower tyre degradation, both Charles and Lewis could benefit from a car that’s more planted to the ground and equipped with a lower-downforce wing, providing that extra speed boost through fast corners and on the straights.
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari Gallery
