This week at the Mugello Circuit, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Monegasque racing driver Charles Leclerc are returning to the track in the iconic red of Scuderia Ferrari, participating in a critical on-track evaluation of the team’s latest development: a new rear suspension system for the Ferrari SF-25. Making the most of the short pause between the British Grand Prix held at Silverstone and the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, the Maranello-based outfit is carrying out what could be a defining test session for their 2025 Formula One campaign.
The new rear suspension component is expected to make its race weekend debut at Spa, where Scuderia Ferrari is aiming to finally secure a Grand Prix victory during the second half of what has been a challenging season so far. The Italian team has only achieved four podium finishes across the opening 12 rounds of the 2025 Formula One World Championship. With the sweeping 2026 regulation changes fast approaching, development of this year’s car is winding down. That reality makes this specific upgrade even more critical. If the suspension fails to provide a tangible performance improvement on track, it may ultimately render Ferrari’s entire 2025 campaign a lost opportunity—one that falls far short of the team’s historical standards and ambitions.
Lewis Hamilton, who joined Ferrari this season after a long and successful stint with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, began his year with promise. At the second round of the season held in Shanghai, the British driver secured pole position and followed it up with a Sprint race victory. However, that same weekend also exposed major vulnerabilities in the Ferrari SF-25, as Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari were hit with a double disqualification during the Grand Prix itself. These disqualifications highlighted deeper technical weaknesses in the car’s setup and reliability—flaws that the new rear suspension is designed to mitigate or eliminate entirely.
Throughout his Formula 1 career, Lewis Hamilton has not hidden his lack of enthusiasm for mid-season testing. According to a report published by Motorsport.com, Ferrari is now conducting a 200-kilometer test at the Mugello Circuit under the permitted category of a ‘filming day’—a type of limited track session allowed within the current FIA regulations. Despite the session being labeled for promotional purposes, Ferrari is using it as a crucial data-gathering opportunity.
The significance of this test is underscored by the presence of both full-time race drivers: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Their involvement points to two key conclusions. First, it reflects how pivotal this particular upgrade is in the context of Ferrari’s 2025 season. Second, it highlights a noticeable shift in Lewis Hamilton’s attitude toward testing.
Over the years, Lewis Hamilton has often described test sessions as dull and monotonous, especially when compared to the excitement of competitive racing. At one point during his tenure with Mercedes-AMG, Hamilton admitted in an interview—originally reported by RaceFans—that he had pretended to be ill in order to skip a scheduled testing session. That anecdote reinforced his longstanding preference to focus on actual racing rather than data collection. However, it now appears that Ferrari has managed to change his perspective. The British driver seems to have recognized the critical value of this Mugello session, not just for development purposes, but also for helping him adapt to the car’s new behavior following technical modifications.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc—Ferrari’s home-grown talent and one of the fastest qualifiers in the modern era of Formula 1—has demonstrated a much more proactive attitude toward testing. Recently, the Monegasque driver volunteered to participate in a 2026 Pirelli tyre test, further confirming his eagerness to contribute to the team’s long-term progress. Nevertheless, Lewis Hamilton’s decision to take part in this week’s test shows a level of dedication and professionalism that cannot be overlooked. Despite being 40 years old and among the most experienced drivers on the grid, Hamilton exhausted his entire Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) allocation for the year even before making his competitive debut in a Ferrari race suit. That early preparation likely helped minimize the learning curve associated with switching teams after more than a decade with Mercedes.
Although Lewis Hamilton is still working to return to his peak performance level, recent races have shown signs of steady improvement. At present, only McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, the current championship leader, has a longer streak of consecutive top-six finishes. Piastri has achieved 11 in a row, while Hamilton has reached six consecutive races within the top six positions. This upward trend signals a possible resurgence, especially if the Spa upgrades deliver on their promise.
Ferrari, for their part, believe that the updated rear suspension could represent a ‘quantum leap’ in performance—a step that might significantly reduce the gap to top competitors like McLaren, the Mercedes-AMG team, and Red Bull Racing. If this new suspension concept proves effective under real race conditions, it may not only boost results for the remainder of 2025 but also serve as the foundation for Ferrari’s 2026 car design under the next-generation technical regulations.
As the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship enters its second half, the pressure is mounting on Scuderia Ferrari to convert potential into results. The outcome of this private Mugello test could be the catalyst for a mid-season turnaround. For Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, it represents an opportunity to align car development with their feedback and driving styles. And for Ferrari as a whole, it is a vital step in restoring the team’s status as a genuine title contender in the modern Formula One era.
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