Ferrari is ready to unveil its latest creation. In Formula 1, after the long winter wait, some teams have already showcased their cars for the 2025 season, ahead of the London event scheduled today at the O2 Arena. Among them, surprisingly, stands out the reigning world champion McLaren, which, in a camouflage livery, completed a few laps at a cold and wet Silverstone circuit. We are talking about the MCL39, the car that carries the heavy legacy of the vehicle which brought the Formula 1 title back to Woking after more than a quarter of a century.
The first technical analyses of the McLaren have highlighted diametrically opposed approaches in the development of new technical projects. It is necessary to clarify that what we will see in the coming weeks may still be provisional specifications, set to evolve already during the collective pre-season testing session at the 5.412-kilometre Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, scheduled to take place from February 26 to 28. With this necessary premise, 2025, being the last Formula 1 season under the current regulatory framework, could see various teams adopting different strategic approaches.
On one hand, there is the logical evolution of last season’s project; on the other, a certain discontinuity with aggressive new solutions. Despite McLaren proving to be, on average, the best in class in 2024, the MCL39, despite its camouflage livery, does not seem to be a natural evolution of the 2024 car, unlike the Williams FW47, which has not particularly stood out. The car of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, in the specification seen during the Silverstone shakedown, did not appear significantly different from the rather disappointing FW46 which took to the track last year.
This is considering that the true evolutionary step has been achieved through a significant weight reduction, close to ten kilograms. This demonstrates that an aggressive design approach does not necessarily correspond to an innovative or extreme aerodynamic concept. Among the top teams, Red Bull will likely be forced to choose the path of discontinuity. Even before last season began, legendary car designer Adrian Newey feared that the RB20 single-seater had been designed too conservatively.
Not at all surprisingly, the prophecy of the brilliant English designer came true precisely, and after an initial period of dominance, Max Verstappen had to perform miracles to secure his fourth consecutive world title. The aerodynamic concept introduced in 2022 with the RB18 has shown no further room for development. Despite the introduction of the version without the so-called bazookas, the Milton Keynes car endured a nightmare end to the season, except for Max Verstappen’s masterpiece at the Brazilian Grand Prix in the Interlagos downpour and the Dutch champion’s unexpected victory in Qatar.
According to Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, the SF-25 single-seater should bear little resemblance to last season’s car, which still performed well. It appears certain that the car of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will transition from a push-rod to a pull-rod front suspension configuration. This is a significant suspension change in terms of kinematics, which, if confirmed, will have repercussions on how the car’s aerodynamic philosophy is managed. Under this aspect, one assumption seems reasonable.
The Maranello team may have realized that continuing along the path set by the SF-24 would not have allowed them to extract further potential from the car. After all, Ferrari was overall inferior to Red Bull in the first part of the season and to McLaren from Miami onward. The five victories achieved were certainly not coincidental, but only at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas did the SF-24 appear dominant. Monaco is a circuit that provides no real indication of a car’s quality, while in the other wins, McLaren’s uncapitalized superiority opened the door to Ferrari’s success.
Ultimately, for the historic Italian team, it was crucial to leave nothing to chance and push as much as possible in every aspect of the car. During the design phase of the SF-25 car, the Ferrari technicians and engineers did not have a competitive advantage that would allow them to carry over most of the strengths of the previous car to the new one, which will soon be revealed on social media. To aim for success, Frederic Vasseur’s engineers had to take risks, as the natural development of the 2024 car likely would not have been enough to fight at the top.
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