Ferrari is looking beyond Imola: no major upgrade package is expected at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit, unlike Red Bull and Mercedes, as the team’s management has launched a relaunch plan intended to make the SF-25 more competitive later in the year. Not to fight for the championship, but to bring renewed motivation to a team already heavily engaged in designing the 678 — the 2026 car that must comply with sweeping regulatory changes.
At the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna GP, aerodynamic tweaks will be introduced, with the new front wing — compliant with stricter deflection rules — set to debut in Spain. Within the racing department, there’s confidence that Ferrari will lose less performance than McLaren and Mercedes with this change. However, the most anticipated update involves the rear suspension, which should allow for a more extreme mechanical setup, lowering the rear ride height in a bid to recover missing downforce.
It’s important to clarify that the overall suspension layout remains unchanged: it was a pull-rod system and will continue to be so. Budget restrictions limit Ferrari to targeted interventions, since most of the resources are allocated to the 2026 car, leaving little flexibility for developing the SF-25. Claims that the gearbox casing will be modified are incorrect; there’s room to adjust the suspension arm mounts and revise the linkage geometry without changing the transmission housing itself.
This bold in-season change could appear on the SF-25 in the second half of June, between the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal and the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring. Ferrari will then have three races — in Great Britain, Belgium, and Hungary — before the summer break to assess the effectiveness and impact of the changes, which will be accompanied by aerodynamic updates to the car’s rear end.
The team is not throwing in the towel and remains committed to the SF-25, which has shown glimpses of potential that have rarely been fully tapped. Both drivers have called for updates to help unlock more performance, particularly Charles Leclerc, who — more than Lewis Hamilton — has adapted to the car and often driven around its problems. He has made it clear that without technical evolution, there’s only so much performance to extract.
Ferrari is not giving up. After a disappointing start to the season that fell short of high expectations, the team still aims to get back on track and deliver at least partial satisfaction to its fans. The SF-25 performs well in fast sections, but struggles in slower corners. Unfortunately, low-speed sectors make up a larger portion of most circuits, and the need for more downforce is crucial to reducing the persistent understeer common to ground-effect cars.
Strong initial turn-in means little if the rear end is unstable and unpredictable, making the SF-25 hard to handle. This also narrows the tyres’ operating window, often leading to overheating — especially as Pirelli has boldly opted for softer compounds this season. At Imola, for instance, the C6 tyre will make its debut — a completely new compound designed specifically for qualifying.
