Formula 1 returned to the track at Zandvoort after the long August summer break, and expectations were high to see how the teams would restart their campaigns in the second half of the season. For Ferrari, this opening free practice session unfortunately quickly highlighted serious difficulties. Charles Leclerc, still determined to put behind him the disappointment of Budapest, and Lewis Hamilton, eager to recover after a disastrous Hungarian weekend, both struggled badly with tyre management and a general lack of grip.
Charles Leclerc’s motivation to redeem himself was clear. In Hungary, he had been at the front until the end of the second stint but was forced to give up his position due to misjudgments from the Ferrari pit wall regarding tyre pressures. That race had underlined how delicate and decisive tyre management remains for Ferrari in 2025. Lewis Hamilton also arrived in the Netherlands with something to prove. The British driver endured one of his most difficult weekends of the season in Budapest, but on Thursday in the paddock he appeared in a calmer, more positive mood, keen to restart strongly alongside his new team.
Now let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for the Maranello team in FP1:
Compressed programme with the medium tyres
Both Ferrari drivers opened their Dutch Grand Prix weekend with medium tyres. The SF-25 was set up in GX2 gearbox mode, designed to make gear changes smoother and more responsive, allowing the drivers to push in a more consistent rhythm. The initial programme was fairly conservative: check the car’s baseline balance with the medium compound, collect data, and adapt to a circuit that often punishes errors. Weather also played a role, as clouds threatened heavy rain later in the afternoon, which meant FP1 could be even more important than usual.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton began with a cautious outlap, building temperature gradually. Once the tyres were warmed, they pushed more aggressively. The car’s balance looked reasonably stable, requiring only small steering corrections, and in the early minutes grip levels seemed in line with expectations. But a difference was already emerging: Lewis Hamilton looked more confident and at ease with the car, while Charles Leclerc kept a more cautious approach, perhaps remembering how quickly mistakes can punish a driver at Zandvoort. After cooling the tyres, both drivers attempted new push laps to improve their times.
Radio exchanges suggested no major changes were being considered at this stage. Engineers Riccardo Adami and Bryan Bozzi gave only small corrections, mainly identifying where Ferrari could gain time compared to McLaren. But traffic was a constant obstacle, forcing both Ferrari drivers to abort clean laps. Lewis Hamilton then had a small spin at Turn 1 after locking up, fortunately escaping without damage.
Still, the first stint revealed a worrying tendency. Ferrari had clearly chosen to protect the front end, as anticipated before the weekend, but the SF-25 was showing oversteer both mid-corner and on exit. The problem was particularly visible in the final sector, where the tyres overheated quickly. This behaviour hinted at deeper issues with tyre management, a recurring weakness for Ferrari this season.
The first red flag of the session was then triggered when Andrea Kimi Antonelli went off into the gravel. For the Mercedes junior it was the end of FP1, but for Ferrari it was another pause in their already complex run plan.
SF-25 unstable at Zandvoort
When the session resumed, Charles Leclerc returned to the track after a small change to the front end in search of better balance. At the same time, Lewis Hamilton also left the garage for his next run.
Charles Leclerc immediately reported via radio that the tyres were not working within the proper operating window. He asked the team for clear targets to reach, but no concrete guidance came from the Ferrari pit wall. Instead, the engineers opted to stick with the original programme, relying on warm-up runs. At Zandvoort, the warm-up phase is crucial because the circuit demands maximum grip through long, high-load corners such as Turns 3 and 14.
Yet Ferrari struggled badly to control tyre temperatures. The outlap management was difficult, and the tyres overheated quicker than expected. After a few laps, Charles Leclerc returned to the pits, soon followed by Hamilton, who also reported a lack of rotation, this time due to a different setup choice. On this second run, instability was particularly obvious through Turns 11 and 12, where both cars lacked confidence in direction change.
Embarrassing gap to McLaren
Ferrari then switched to soft tyres, hoping for more grip. Instead, new problems emerged. The SF-25 became more understeery than before, without solving the instability. It was hard for the engineers to extract any consistent conclusions from the car’s behaviour. The drivers pushed harder, but after a few laps they were forced to return to the pits to cool down overheated tyres once again.
Charles Leclerc tried a variety of approaches. In the first sector he attempted rounder lines to maintain speed, but in the middle part of the lap the front end still refused to bite. Turns 7 and 8 provided some stability, but at Turn 10 rotation was missing completely. At Turn 11 he clipped the kerb, while at Turn 13 he rode over it in search of grip. Traction out of the corners seemed slightly improved compared to earlier in the session, but activating the tyres properly remained an unsolved issue.
The following laps brought no better news. Turn-in continued to be hesitant, the front end unstable. In Turns 7 and 8 behaviour remained similar, but at Turn 10 the gap to the leaders grew further. At the chicane through Turns 11 and 12 Leclerc forced the entry, but the SF-25 resisted, struggling to change direction with any fluidity. Ferrari then asked Leclerc to complete a single cooling lap before simulating a short race run.
Charles Leclerc, however, refused the request, pointing out that the car’s main problems were already present in the short stints, so high-fuel runs would provide little useful data at this stage. His reasoning was entirely logical: the root cause was Ferrari’s inability to switch the tyres on correctly, a weakness that also plagued Lewis Hamilton’s side of the garage. Both drivers found themselves stuck in the same vicious cycle of overheating, instability, and lack of grip.
For Ferrari, this was another painful reminder of how delicate the SF-25 is with tyre management compared to rivals. McLaren, for example, looked comfortable from the start of FP1, with Lando Norris consistently setting strong times. The gap to Norris at the end of the session was more than 1.6 seconds, a margin that would be considered embarrassing for Ferrari, given the resources and talent within the team.
Zandvoort magnifies Ferrari’s weaknesses
The Dutch Grand Prix circuit is one of the most physically demanding and technically complex venues on the Formula 1 calendar. With steep banking, long-duration corners, and limited overtaking opportunities, it is a track that rewards cars able to generate strong mechanical grip and manage tyres effectively. McLaren, Red Bull, and even Mercedes appeared to adapt better to these conditions than Ferrari, whose instability and tyre mismanagement were magnified around the narrow Dutch track.
Ferrari’s struggles in FP1 also highlight a season-long pattern. Throughout 2025, the SF-25 has often failed to bring tyres into their ideal operating window, especially on circuits with high lateral loads. In Budapest, tyre pressures and poor warm-up strategy cost Charles Leclerc a potential podium. In Zandvoort, the same issues reappeared almost immediately, showing how persistent and unresolved this weakness has become.
For Lewis Hamilton, who joined Ferrari this year with hopes of fighting consistently at the front, the lack of grip is particularly frustrating. The Briton has always been known for his ability to manage tyres over long stints, but even his smooth driving style could not compensate for a car fundamentally unable to activate its tyres properly.
Where Ferrari stands after FP1
At the end of the first practice session, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were left only in 14th and 15th position, separated by just fractions of a second but more than 1.6 seconds behind Lando Norris. Even more concerning was the fact that at least one car from every rival team, including Haas and Williams, finished ahead of the two Ferraris. In terms of pace, only Haas looked slower overall, underlining just how far Ferrari had fallen behind the competition in this opening session.
For the Scuderia, the challenge ahead of qualifying and the race is enormous. Engineers must find a way to stabilise the SF-25 and bring the tyres into the correct working range. Without solving this core problem, Ferrari risks spending another weekend on the defensive, far from the podium positions and struggling just to score points.
The Dutch GP has already started to look like an uphill battle for the Maranello team. Unless major progress is made in FP2 and FP3, Ferrari could face another frustrating weekend, with the grandstands painted orange celebrating Max Verstappen and the local heroes, while Ferrari once again searches for answers to its chronic tyre problems.
Leave a Reply