Ferrari has officially extended the contract of Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur, reaffirming its full confidence in his leadership. This announcement comes at a key moment in the season, as the Maranello-based team is showing clear signs of growth and competitiveness with the SF-25 car. Currently, Scuderia Ferrari holds a firm second place in the Constructors’ Championship standings, boasting a 28-point advantage over rival Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. At the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, Charles Leclerc secured his fifth podium finish of the season, further underlining the team’s upward trajectory.
The latest development package brought to Spa included a long-awaited rear suspension upgrade. Among the main features is a revised central damper aimed at improving the overall chassis control and lowering the ride height of the car. This step marks a return to Ferrari’s original design philosophy for the SF-25, which had to be altered earlier in the season due to the consequences of Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix. In the aftermath of that incident, Ferrari opted to raise the car’s height to ensure compliance and reliability. Now, with the combination of the updated rear suspension and the new floor introduced during the Austrian Grand Prix, the team is confident it has a more stable and competitive foundation for the remainder of the 2025 Formula One season.
Charles Leclerc was able to extract the full potential of the upgraded package almost immediately. In Saturday’s qualifying session at Spa, he achieved an impressive third-place starting position, even outqualifying reigning World Champion Max Verstappen. He was just three-tenths of a second behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who secured second on the grid. On a long and complex circuit such as Spa, that performance is an encouraging signal for Ferrari. However, Charles Leclerc was measured in his assessment of the progress, cautioning that while the car feels improved, the gains are still subtle, and other teams—particularly McLaren—continue to make strides as well.
On the other hand, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton had a more reserved reaction. After a disastrous qualifying session that saw him eliminated in Q1, the British driver described the rear end of his SF-25 as still problematic, claiming that he noticed no significant improvement. Despite a solid comeback drive on Sunday, Hamilton’s Grand Prix weekend was heavily compromised by his poor Saturday result, which limited the usefulness of his overall feedback. As such, it remains difficult to evaluate the true extent of the car’s progress from his perspective.
All eyes now turn to Budapest.
Fred Vasseur explained that the decision to debut the new upgrade package at Spa—despite it being a Sprint weekend—was strategic. It allowed Ferrari to gather valuable data and fine-tune the car ahead of the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix. The Hungaroring circuit, with its slow-speed corners, high ambient temperatures, and emphasis on tyre management, is seen as an ideal venue for the SF-25’s updated configuration.
Charles Leclerc has regained some of the confidence he had lost in recent qualifying sessions, and the Maranello team is hopeful that he can continue to fight at the front. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is still chasing his first podium finish in red since joining Ferrari. The upcoming race in Hungary may represent his best opportunity yet to achieve that long-awaited result. With the renewed contract of Frédéric Vasseur now official and critical technical upgrades in place, the Formula 1 paddock will soon find out whether these steps will be enough to keep Ferrari on the upward path in 2025.
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