The Miami weekend will feature the second sprint weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season. The single practice session (scheduled for Friday morning) will not allow for any technical updates on track, but there is an interesting question that the Sprint race on Saturday is set to answer. In addition to the podium achieved at the last Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s only other highlight came on the Shanghai circuit, host of the second round of the 2025 championship.
In the nineteen laps of the Chinese sprint race, Lewis Hamilton was able to claim his first (and so far only) mini-victory at the wheel of a Ferrari, finishing with over six seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri. Two months ago, it seemed like the first breakthrough for the SF-25 project; no one could have imagined that from that moment on, both Scuderia Ferrari and Hamilton would enter a very difficult period.
In hindsight, there has been much discussion about the Shanghai sprint race, the reasons behind that success that never materialized again, and one of the theories that emerged in the weeks following was that the short race format itself might have suited Ferrari.
Twenty-four hours after the Chinese victory, the problem of the skid wear appeared for the first time on Lewis Hamilton’s car, which led to his disqualification from the final classification of the Grand Prix.
From that moment, the Scuderia’s engineers had to fight hard with the car’s ride height, and on several occasions, they were forced to sacrifice performance by raising the car to avoid the risk of another disqualification.
This issue is not present in a sprint race, or is present in a much reduced form, as the fuel load never exceeds 35 kg, which is about a third of the weight carried at the start of a regular Grand Prix. As a result, stiffness and ride heights change, and this is one of the most plausible explanations for Lewis Hamilton‘s victory in Shanghai.
Miami will be the first sprint race after Shanghai and will offer a long-awaited opportunity for verification. The track layout around the Hard Rock Stadium is very different from the Chinese circuit, and the asphalt and tire compounds will be different as well, but the SF-25 could tackle the 19 laps on Saturday morning in a setup window it hasn’t been able to use in the five Grand Prix races so far.
Regardless of the outcome, it will be an interesting test, likely even for the Scuderia’s engineers. Then, as hoped by all Ferrari fans, the hope is that from the Imola Grand Prix (where technical updates are expected on both cars), the setup window will be able to open up completely, even during the traditional race distance with a full fuel load.
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