Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, is eager to react. The 7th round of the 2025 Formula 1 season will take place on an old-school track: gravel, wide run-off areas, and a very narrow track width. Mistakes will come at a high price, as a result. There is optimism, it seems, reading Frederic Vasseur’s words. The Frenchman praises the Maranello team, as the work done during the break was focused on maximizing performance: optimizing the SF-25 is the goal.
Among this weekend’s protagonists, Charles Leclerc was not present yesterday, as the Monegasque driver was not feeling well. An illness has knocked him out. We did not hear his words in the press conference, so we will have to rely solely on Lewis Hamilton’s analysis. The Italian team made it known to the world through a statement on social media, where it disclosed the reasons for the Ferrari driver’s absence yesterday.
There is no specific mention of the issue. The post simply states that the historic Italian team is waiting for Charles Leclerc to recover in order to be present today in good shape. The first free practice session will begin in a few hours, which means he will have plenty of time to recover and then hit the track without issues. If not, he could be replaced in FP1 by a reserve driver.
Back to Lewis Hamilton. The Brit is quite cheerful in the paddock, ready to face the weekend where, it must be said, considering the small step forward made in Miami, a performance closer to that of his teammate is expected. Although the Maranello-based car is not on par with the frontrunners, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion must necessarily improve his feeling with the Ferrari SF-25.
From the first images coming from the Italian pitlane, we can take a look at the rear-end configurations. We are talking about the rear wing to understand the level of downforce chosen to tackle the beautiful but tricky circuit that lies on the banks of the Santerno river. Looking at the images, the particular setup chosen by the reigning world champions immediately stands out.
Unexpectedly, McLaren has brought a medium-load spec to Imola. Expectations were that the two MCL39 cars might use a medium-low load wing, similar to what was done in last year’s campaign. The reasoning is as follows: they are not the fastest in terms of top speed, so it was conceivable they would opt for less downforce to try and gain performance on the straights.
That was not the case. Apparently, based on the available images, the British team has chosen a load level very similar to Ferrari’s. On the MCL39, we notice a slightly more pronounced leading edge by a few millimeters, while the second flap of the SF-25 single-seater from the Imola pitlane shows a greater angle on its outermost section, at the wing tips, in order to match the vertical load being produced.
The version of the papaya-colored cars has a different local geometry in that area, which helps reduce drag and, generally speaking, the induced resistance of that component. Ferrari’s version is the second one introduced during the championship, offering a medium level of aerodynamic load. The Italian car needs to stabilize the rear of the car, considering the issues it has faced.
We are referring to a suboptimal balance that has significantly worsened the Ferrari drivers’ handling, effectively slowing the car down. The front end still suffers from a strong lack of rotation, and this does not help at all when building the setup, which turns out to be very complex and delicate to fine-tune. However, the SF-25 is quite fast on the straights, even if in terms of drag it is not at Red Bull’s level.
— see video above —
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