F1, Ferrari: SF-25 is ready for its first showdown with main competitors. The improvement over the SF-24 is about four tenths, but will it be enough to beat the competition?.

Ferrari is preparing the garage in Sakhir, where the 2025 season will begin on Wednesday with the first direct comparison among the title contenders. Three days of testing in Bahrain, and perhaps it will be possible to measure the actual competitiveness of the cars in conditions that are not yet the cold winter temperatures of Europe.

All the rumors about the large time gap Charles Leclerc would inflict on Lewis Hamilton during the SF-25’s debut will be dispelled. There was a difference, but not to the extent that was reported, especially since there had been different development work done between the two drivers.

The simulator shows that the SF-25 is four tenths better than the 2024 car, a credible value when comparing Charles Leclerc’s times at Fiorano. With the SF-24, the Monegasque driver had set a time of 56”21, while on February 19th, he improved to 56”06. These numbers, however, don’t really say much at the moment, because it’s not so much the growth value that matters, but the actual differential measured against the competitors.

The first emerging data suggests that there is still significant room for development in a technical regulation that, in its fourth year, has not yet reached its limits. Therefore, we can expect substantial growth from the ground effect cars.

Ferrari had the courage to redesign the car, adjusting its technical concepts to the best competitors, with the adoption of the pull-rod front suspension for clear aerodynamic purposes, more than mechanical, and redistributed the masses by moving more weight to the rear (which will need to be balanced by front ballast). It also adopted a shorter gearbox and moved the front wheels further from the sidepods with a different arm inclination, giving the impression of a longer wheelbase, though all teams are at the regulatory limit (3,600 mm).

As we mentioned during the presentation of the SF-25, the miniaturization work on the rear suspension, which remains a pull-rod design, is interesting. The anchor points for the arms were changed to find geometries more suitable for a broader range of adjustments, aiming to fine-tune the car and make it more versatile than the SF-24, adapting better to the varying characteristics of different tracks.