The first five races that kicked off the 2025 season have also launched the development race, with the arrival of the first car upgrades on track. Among the top teams, Red Bull and Ferrari have been the quickest to act, producing a second version of the floor for their respective cars. McLaren also brought updates, though focused on different areas, while Mercedes remains lacking in new developments.
Early season updates
2025 has shone a spotlight on McLaren, the leading force so far this season. So far, the world champions’ development has centered on the rear end of the MCL39, as shown by the new diffuser introduced in Jeddah and the double update to the aerodynamics of the rear wheel assemblies between Japan and Saudi Arabia. There are questions, however, about the updates introduced at the first race, an event where the information provided by the FIA documents often includes all the changes made to the cars over the winter. The way McLaren listed their developments, though, suggests that new front brake cooling ducts made their debut in Australia—components which often also influence tire temperature management.
Red Bull, on the other hand, brought its first updates to the car as early as Bahrain testing, evaluating a new floor coupled with a revised front wing, with both specs later confirmed in Melbourne. The Milton Keynes team also worked on power unit cooling, introducing a new engine cover in Japan and testing a further version in Jeddah.
As for Ferrari, its first SF-25 updates debuted in Bahrain, with a revised floor from the Venturi channels to the diffuser. Still no news yet for Mercedes, unlike Haas, which worked on the floor to reduce bouncing issues, and Sauber, which carried out a double intervention on the floor-diffuser assembly.
A partial summary
Below is a list of the officially introduced updates by each team from the beginning of the year to date, intended only as a reference. The FIA requires teams to declare only externally visible modifications, thus excluding mechanical upgrades, internal cooling duct work, or optimizations to wing surface flexibility. It should also be noted that each team describes its updates with varying levels of detail, where a “floor update” could mean anything from minor tweaks to the outer edge to a full redesign of the Venturi channels and diffuser. Finally, the summary includes both general developments and track-specific adaptations, without distinguishing between the two.
McLaren
Australia: front brake cooling ducts
China: rear wheel assembly appendages
Japan: /
Bahrain: front wheel assembly deflectors
Saudi Arabia: diffuser and rear wheel assembly appendages
Ferrari
Australia: /
China: /
Japan: /
Bahrain: floor, diffuser, rear wing pillar
Saudi Arabia: rear wing, beam wing, DRS flap on rear wing
Red Bull
Australia: front wing, floor (already during testing)
China: /
Japan: engine cover, rear brake cooling, rear suspension shrouds
Bahrain: front wing flap, cooling grills on engine cover
Saudi Arabia: engine cover, beam wing
Mercedes
Australia: /
China: /
Japan: /
Bahrain: /
Saudi Arabia: /
Aston Martin
Australia: /
China: /
Japan: /
Bahrain: /
Saudi Arabia: DRS flap on rear wing
Alpine
Australia: /
China: /
Japan: /
Bahrain: /
Saudi Arabia: /
Haas
Australia: /
China: /
Japan: floor modifications
Bahrain: engine cover
Saudi Arabia: dual rear wing from 2024, front wing flap
Racing Bulls
Australia: /
China: high-load beam wing
Japan: /
Bahrain: /
Saudi Arabia: rear wing, beam wing, front wing flap
Williams
Australia: /
China: beam wing
Japan: front wing flap and endplate
Bahrain: /
Saudi Arabia: /
Sauber
Australia: front wing, sidepods
China: experimental engine cover
Japan: floor and diffuser, rear wing, beam wing
Bahrain: /
Saudi Arabia: floor, rear wing, beam wing, front wing flap
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