Ferrari needs to believe it can fight for the front. After a strong first day of free practice, the Italian team must follow it up with another productive session. The next step is to fine-tune the setup and extract the final bit of performance still hidden within the SF-25. Perfecting the car through precise adjustments and managing the track evolution along with tyre behaviour will be the key to staying in the fight for pole position and aiming for the top in qualifying.
SF-25 balanced and consistent on a single lap
The opening day of practice was very solid for the Scuderia, as reflected by the timesheets. Several factors were expected to suit the SF-25, and so far, that prediction has proven correct. From the very first runs, the car showed excellent adaptability to the circuit. The most meaningful comparisons arrived during FP2, when data from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris became available.
The most encouraging aspect was the excellent balance. On the medium compound, the Ferrari car was well-balanced across the entire speed range of the track, both in slow and fast sections. The SF-25 once again confirmed its strong curb riding ability, which is especially crucial in the opening sequence of corners in Sector 1, where drivers must attack the kerbs aggressively.
Later, the team fitted the soft tyres for the first real qualifying simulation. The Soft compound naturally offers more rear-end grip, often generating a tendency towards understeer. With this tyre, Ferrari experienced a slight lack of rotation, although this can be corrected through targeted fine-tuning. The setup approach chosen by the Scuderia aimed to find an efficient compromise across all three sectors.
Ferrari may not stand out in any single part of the track, but the car remains very close to the best overall performance in each sector. A particularly interesting point is that the SF-25 proved quite quick in Sector 2, where on paper it should have struggled more. Given current dynamics, and considering the setups adopted by main rivals, the strongest cars tend to level out their performance in this middle section.
Ferrari must maximize tyre performance
Telemetry analysis reveals several insights. The SF-25 gains significant time thanks to its excellent traction and stability in high-speed corners, confirming that Ferrari is operating in a very effective performance window. More specifically, there is still some time to find in the first three corners of the track, where the team loses roughly one-tenth of a second. However, the car’s handling in that section remains very solid.
The time lost is largely recovered through acceleration out of Turn 4. In Turn 6, Ferrari gives up a little on corner entry compared to Red Bull, but once again, traction compensates for it, reducing the total gap to under a tenth. In the final sector, Ferrari gains time on corner exits but concedes slightly in entries. Overall, the team experienced no significant tyre-related issues.
This is confirmed by the fact that neither driver spent much time discussing tyres over the radio, focusing only on standard warm-up comments. Nevertheless, it’s well known that the compounds are extremely sensitive to a wide range of factors, especially for Ferrari. One only has to recall the performance fluctuations between Friday and Saturday in Austin, which, as Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur often pointed out, were mainly due to tyre management.
One key factor will be decisive for Ferrari in Mexico: the team’s ability to follow and adapt to the track evolution during qualifying. This will be a crucial variable, as grip levels are expected to improve rapidly throughout the session. Both the team and the drivers must adjust in real time to these changing conditions. Success will depend heavily on how well the drivers can adapt and extract the full potential from the SF-25 when it matters most.
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