The F1 world championship starts this weekend, with Bahrain testing yet to clarify the pecking order. Still, observers are in agreement that McLaren are the favourites The question is: who will be their closest challenger?
There is some uncertainty even among the teams themselves. No one is committing themselves as McLaren’s likely challengers. Red Bull and Mercedes believe they are second fastest in the field. One of the two will inevitably be disappointed.
Ferrari should have solved some shortcomings that have limited the old car. However, it is not clear whether this will be enough to quickly counter the pack of the reigning champions from Woking.
Ferrari has completed its preparations: SF-25 arrives in Australia to learn about its potential and not its consistency
The data confirms that the SF-25 has increased aerodynamic load, which is always the goal.
“The feeling was quite good, all the tests we did showed no negative surprises,” was Charles’ comment at Ferrari’s Milan event.
This confirms what AutoRacer.it previously reported about Ferrari not finding any anomalies with the correlation – “The numbers we saw are the same as we expected.”
From Bahrain to Australia, the SF-25 is ready for its debut. There will be no surprise red in the aerodynamic configuration, even amidst potential rain on Sunday.
Focusing on the Australian GP, there is no excessive alarm in Maranello about the FIA’s rear wing measures. The FIA will implement the first act of a stricter approach to their technical directives.
As previously reported, Ferrari carried out targeted rear wing programmes in Bahrain, having brought a new specification for 2025.
The SF-25 does not fear irregularities, having already been promoted to the usual “legality check” a week before the official launch, which makes any hypothesis of further checks by the Federation superfluous. The technical office headed by Tombazis will be at work in Melbourne only to verify the cars on site with routine checks.
Can more payload be used without narrowing the operating window? Is there a backstory to a more “extreme” primitive SF-25?
Albert Park will provide the first indications of who arrives most ready and the best technical package. In Ferrari, the work between Bahrain and Australia was focused on preparing the set-up with which to arrive in Melbourne, with simulator work that saw Leclerc and Hamilton alternating, as we had already told you about.
Ferrari SF-25: the upper triangle of the new pull-rod compared to the very aggressive one of the McLaren MCL39 #AutoRacer #F1 pic.twitter.com/6iiF3XKNwD
— Th€ PJ (@SmilexTech) February 19, 2025
It goes without saying that in Maranello they will analyse the first official outing to understand how the SF-25 fits into the hierarchy compared to its opponents.
The data has ascertained that Ferrari did not show all their cards in Bahrain by playing with weight. However, it is true that the SF-25 was still imperfect in terms of the mechanical setup.
Ferrari’s upturned front suspension in the pull-rod scheme is a new variable compared to last year – requiring some knowledge in terms of mileage.
The less extreme anti-dive, especially compared to McLaren, was a conscious choice by Ferrari – who did not want to take risks with a mechanical platform that was too rigid and extreme.
Pierre Waché defined in an interview with The Race how the McLaren solution presented some risks.
In Maranello, they evaluated a suspension and steering levers design similar to the scheme present on Bob Marshall’s McLaren.
However, Ferrari’s tests concluded that a more balanced approach was more suitable.
