After a partially successful 2024 Formula 1 season, Ferrari is studying to truly become great. In Formula 1, victory is achieved through effective and precise planning, gradually working up to competing for both world titles, being able to “weigh in” one’s cards throughout the entire season. This is an aspect that the 677 project from Ferrari, namely the single-seater for the 2025 Formula 1 championship, aims to carry with it. The efforts put in to achieve this goal are truly numerous, and it seems that the Prancing Horse is on the right path to nurturing this important ambition. The target? To erase this annoying zero that has weighed on the world title table for years like a boulder.
Which points should Ferrari focus on for the 2025 car? The areas of interest to improve the 2024 project are numerous. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has stated that 95% of the components in the car will be new. Starting with the aerodynamics, the car performed fairly well last season. In the early races, the SF-24 was very solid in wide-radius corners and in support, with good stability under different driving conditions. In other words, the aerodynamic map was quite broad, producing a good level of stable downforce at various speed ranges.
This aspect started to decline from the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, when the Maranello team temporarily lost direction in development. A significant aerodynamic package is always a risk, as it can easily lead down the wrong path if something goes wrong. To extract potential from an F1 car, Ferrari took extreme approaches with the setup, to the point that it was often impossible to be competitive. It took five races to understand the errors that resulted from the introduction of the Spain aerodynamic package, and then proceed to unlock further performance from the floor.
In the final part of the season, Ferrari brought two strong updates, one at Monza and another at Las Vegas. The Italian race at Monza took place in early September, and it is no coincidence that the comeback started from there. During the summer break, the wind tunnel in Maranello was updated. Specifically, they invested in a new movable floor for the wind tunnel. The material used for its construction is crucial, as it must replicate the real conditions of the track surface as closely as possible. Of course, each reference plane is different, so there will always be some deviation between simulation and reality.
From a technical point of view, they made the boundary layer thickening more realistic on the track surface side, that portion of fluid directly in contact with the surface where viscosity effects prevail. The boundary layer will develop both from the asphalt side and from the underside. The challenge is to produce a moving carpet in a material that recreates the track surface effect. Ferrari switched from a metallic material to one with a higher percentage of rubber material, which better replicates the real conditions of the track.
A mission that we can undoubtedly define as accomplished. This is confirmed by the results achieved since September. In the weeks following the summer break, Ferrari managed to validate and complete the work carried out with Computational Fluid Dynamics in the preceding weeks, being able to better understand the behavior of the floor at different heights from the ground. All of this helped to widen the aerodynamic map of the SF-24 while simultaneously keeping the tedious bouncing effect under control, which had been caused by a lack of accuracy in wind tunnel testing.
The new wind tunnel floor will be very useful for the 2025 Formula 1 championship as well. The latest update in Las Vegas was just a preview of what they will bring to the track in February, as it was only in the final part of the season that the Ferrari engineers and technicians understood exactly how to develop this macro component. For 2025, the Italian F1 team has worked especially to minimize losses along the car’s floor. The technicians focused on the front volume of the floor, as they realized that a lot of aerodynamic downforce can be extracted from this area of the car.
Furthermore, it is possible to improve the structure of the vortices that travel through the side channels and at the same time also achieve greater flow stability. A large part of the work has also been spent on the entrance of the floor. We are referring to the “fences,” which, as we well remember, underwent a quadruple re-shaping during the 2024 season. This measure will follow the path taken from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which seems to have hit the key elements needed to further develop the specification in a very practical manner.
From the back of the longest fence, a very important vortex detaches, whose structure and spatial positioning are crucial for stability. The cutting edge has also been revised. In fact, the last aerodynamic upgrade of the previous season set the course for the 2025 work, where the focus is on generating more fluid energy to be injected into the diffuser volume. The Ferrari SF-24 was very solid in high-speed and wide-radius corners in the early races. Then it lost this characteristic but improved in tighter-radius corners that require a single steering input.
Aerodynamically, a compromise was sought between these two distinctive traits to optimize the base of the car that will participate in the next F1 World Championship. This required a number of simulations, especially in the wind tunnel, studying variations in ride height at different speed rates. All of this with a careful eye on the roll angle. Unless there are surprises, we should therefore observe a floor of the Ferrari that is decidedly different. The keel will follow the design base implemented at Monza, but there will also be several new elements in that case.
In the 2025 Formula 1 championship, Ferrari will have 240 hours of wind tunnel testing, considering its final position in the previous season’s campaign. The same amount of time it was allotted in 2024. The Italian team therefore intends to make the most of every small work situation, taking advantage of the small organizational lead, having already tested some parts within last year’s timeline. McLaren will have 20 fewer hours, while Red Bull will have 20 more compared to the Italian team. As for the “runs,” there will be 16 fewer than the German team and 16 more than the Woking team.
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