The conclusion of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain leaves several doubts about Ferrari. The final image, with covers concealing the work on the SF-25 car inside the garage, is not a positive one. Certainly, it is easy to hide the true “form” of the car by using a lower engine map, adding extra ballast, or lifting off the throttle. However, the handling is a significant concern. There are too many corrections, with the rear end excessively unstable and clear difficulty in finding the right ride heights. Furthermore, the race pace still shows excessive degradation.
Comparing with other cars, tire consumption and race pace are far from the levels recorded by top competitors. The Prancing Horse is therefore left with work to do in the on-track tests at Sakhir, awaiting more clarity at the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne. McLaren, closely followed by Mercedes and even Red Bull, seem to be the frontrunners. Both teams completed solid long runs, managing the tires excellently: fairly long stints, with lap times trending downward. The RB21, from what we have seen, focused more on fast laps.
The four-time F1 world champion only attempted long runs on a couple of occasions. The engineers at the Milton Keynes-based team worked extensively on the angle of the front flaps, trying to find the car’s balance. Although it appears that the asynchrony between the two axles has been resolved, the Red Bull RB21 still has balance issues. Some improvements have been noted, with the RB21 correcting its troublesome understeering tendency. However, it still lacks rotation on corner entry, and overall, Max Verstappen is not satisfied with the car.
In today’s analysis, we consider both of Friday’s practice sessions, morning and afternoon, in order to provide a complete picture, even though track conditions were different. Alpine has shown its real potential, inherently demonstrating how the stronger teams can still increase their performance levels. Lando Norris is the benchmark among the top drivers, although he suffers from significant performance degradation on hard tires. Conversely, Max Verstappen, also in the morning session, managed tire wear excellently while prioritizing straight-line speed.
More interesting was Oscar Piastri’s stint with a full fuel tank. The Australian driver had the best degradation among those who ran the afternoon session. The reigning F1 world champion team is the most consistent in long runs, keeping the tires in the correct operating window. The Woking-based car quickly found the right setup and, after finalizing the optimal configuration, conducted long-run tests with different fuel loads and power levels. By contrast, Ferrari partially neglected understanding the car’s behavior with a heavy fuel load, focusing instead on optimizing performance for single laps.
For this reason, the drivers made multiple pit stops to adjust the front suspension and braking system. The goal was to stabilize the rear end, the most critical aspect in the search for the ideal setup. There has been much discussion about the rear wing, with concerns that it was not sufficiently loaded. In reality, the specific design was intended for Bahrain. Perhaps the Ferrari engineers and technicians expected to generate more downforce from the floor. Who knows. Additionally, it is important to highlight a negative aspect: unlike their rivals, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are struggling to contain tire wear.
This issue, regardless of fuel load or available power, highlights the aforementioned lack of balance and the necessity for the engineers to fine-tune the F1 car. From the data collected and the telemetry analysis, we can better understand where the cars are making the difference. Red Bull and Mercedes had superior power, dominating on the straights. Moreover, it was observed that both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen lifted off the throttle earlier before the braking point. Overall, the setup work done by the Austrian team is noteworthy.
This adjustment allowed the Dutchman to be highly effective in corners, particularly in Sector 2. Red Bull found a good compromise between high- and low-speed turns, with a stiffness setting that provided an optimal roll angle in tighter sections while stabilizing the platform in high-speed corners. In braking zones, Lewis Hamilton was forced to brake earlier due to an SF-25 that was not entirely perfect. Just as on Thursday, Ferrari once again worked on the braking system yesterday to offer the drivers a more decisive braking phase.
Considering the average mid-corner speed, the Ferrari SF-25 single-seater was less stiff than on the second day of testing, bringing it closer to its rivals’ pace. However, the aerodynamics were not optimized, and the car was less effective in medium-fast corners. Lando Norris had the best traction. The British driver took advantage of his ability to carry speed into slow corners, with a well-balanced rear end allowing him to get on the throttle earlier. According to speed data, although track grip was lower on Friday, McLaren chose a setup similar to the previous day to refine the car further.
Looking at the data related to the average lap time, Pierre Gasly was the fastest in sections where aerodynamic load is crucial. Most likely, the French driver, in an Alpine competing with Williams for the title of the fifth-best team in Formula 1, had a lighter car, which helped him achieve good mid-corner speed. Finally, let’s focus on another stint completed by the drivers on the final day of pre-season testing in Bahrain. It is evident that the various teams carried out different test programs with inconsistent fuel loads.
As in the previous stint, Max Verstappen was the only one to achieve negative degradation. Meanwhile, Ferrari, much slower than the McLaren duo, managed to reduce tire wear slightly through some setup changes. At the end of these three days of testing, it seems clear that the team to beat remains Woking’s. Red Bull and Mercedes also found a setup that provided good performance, both on single laps and long runs, although overall, their pace was inferior to that of the MCL39. Ferrari remains the hardest team to interpret among the top contenders.
On one hand, Ferrari conducted numerous tests to better understand the new concept; on the other, it is surprising how far its performance lags behind direct rivals. Due to a lack of data, it is difficult to determine whether there is a discrepancy between the factory simulations and real-world performance. However, by carefully analyzing the data and the on-track behavior of the SF-25, this hypothesis should at least be considered. Only the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne will provide answers to these questions, revealing the true potential of all the cars, including the Ferrari SF-25.
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