Ferrari concluded the thirteenth Formula 1 race weekend of the 2025 season in the best possible way. Charles Leclerc secured a well-deserved podium finish after delivering a very solid and consistent race, while Lewis Hamilton executed a strong recovery drive and finally showed a promising connection and growing understanding with the Ferrari SF-25 racing car. The Ferrari team brought two different rear wing configurations to the challenging and iconic Spa-Francorchamps Grand Prix, as we exclusively reported in detail during the last week.
The need to validate the technical updates introduced by Ferrari was essential to fully understand their impact on the car’s overall performance and reliability. Testing these upgrades on track allowed the Maranello team to gather crucial data and feedback, helping engineers refine the setup and make informed decisions for upcoming races. This process of validation ensures that the updates not only improve speed but also maintain consistency and drivability under different race conditions.
But did the revised suspension kinematics and geometry work as intended? Providing a perfect and definitive answer without direct access to the official data from the Ferrari team is not a simple task. However, by carefully analyzing the behavior of the racing car during on-track sessions at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, we were able to form a clear and well-founded opinion. This technical view is further supported by the insightful statements of Ferrari’s team principal Frederic Vasseur. The French is apparently confirmed to remain in charge for the next Formula 1 season, but we will discuss this in a different article. Meanwhile, Fred Vasseur explained that some of the updates have the ability to deliver immediate performance gains.
Other updates, however, require a more detailed process of adaptation that involves adjustments related to the braking system, ride height settings, and generally the overall balance of the racing car. Obviously, the new sprint race format did not make Ferrari’s task any easier, as they had only sixty minutes of track time to work with and were unable to fully optimize the performance of the revised pull-rod suspension setup. This limitation was confirmed on Saturday when the group of highly skilled engineers and technicians, led by Loic Serra, made targeted adjustments to the car.
These modifications ultimately worked well, providing the Italian racing team’s car with a significantly broader range of competitiveness. Charles Leclerc fully seized the opportunity during the qualifying session, delivering his absolute best performance. Lewis Hamilton, however, was less precise and somewhat nervous, which led to his elimination for the second time in Q1 of the qualifying session. Patience will be necessary. At least over the full race distance of 300 kilometers, Lewis Hamilton demonstrated that the updates applied to the SF-25 racing car are indeed beneficial and represent a positive step forward.
The French team principal therefore views the Spa-Francorchamps race weekend positively, although he believes that the aerodynamic and mechanical package will be further maximized and refined at the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. The Hungarian circuit is completely different from the Belgian track, with a variety of different factors that can be addressed and fine-tuned more calmly thanks to the availability of three free practice sessions. This represents another challenge that Ferrari’s team from Maranello believes it can confidently tackle correctly right from the start of the weekend.
McLaren and Red Bull Racing sought the best possible expression of their respective aerodynamic and mechanical packages by successfully nailing the optimal level of setup for their cars. On the Red Bull RB21, different paths were taken partially due to changing weather conditions, including rain, which led the team to switch to a lighter and less aggressive setup following the Sprint race. The Ferrari engineers, on the other hand, followed a more linear and consistent approach throughout the entire weekend, at least in the case of Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton adopted a contrasting approach by focusing on different adjustments and differentiating his setup to find a better balance.
In the end, due to the considerable number of laps completed with a wet floor and changing conditions, the correct decision was made by Ferrari to equip the SF-25 with the new rear wing specification. This particular rear wing recalls the shape and design of the wing used last year at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. However, there are some notable differences introduced to adapt the wing to the levels of flex and deformation allowed by the FIA following the recent technical directive, under which various regulatory constraints are strictly enforced.
By observing detailed images from Spa-Francorchamps during the race weekend, it is noticeable how the main plane of the rear wing is significantly less loaded aerodynamically, even though it originates from the 2024 version, where only minor changes exist specifically in the rear section of the wing. This strategic move allowed Ferrari to save a considerable amount on budget costs, not only in terms of production expenses but also regarding the timing and logistics involved in manufacturing new parts and the pure technical development of the car’s aerodynamic components.
Among the dense forests of the Ardennes region, two different versions of this rear wing were present during the race weekend. One version additionally featured a nolder, or small aerodynamic flap, on the trailing edge of the wing. Aerodynamically speaking, the primary goal was to increase vertical downforce by a few percentage points while only slightly increasing drag or aerodynamic resistance. This solution ultimately convinced Ferrari and helped the Maranello team achieve the targeted goal they had estimated: to be the best-performing team after McLaren during the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
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