Formula 1 journalist Roberto Chinchero has offered a detailed technical analysis of Ferrari’s latest upgrade — a brand-new rear suspension that the Italian team is set to debut at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Following an initial rollout during a filming day at the Mugello circuit, this long-anticipated component could be key in Ferrari’s efforts to reduce the significant performance gap that currently separates them from the increasingly dominant McLaren team.
The updated suspension system will officially appear on the SF-25 car for the first time in a Grand Prix weekend at Spa, one of the most demanding and high-speed circuits on the Formula 1 calendar. The timing of the upgrade is critical, as Ferrari finds itself at a crossroads midway through the 2025 season, with limited time left to make a meaningful leap forward in performance.
Closing the gap to McLaren — a team that has surged in recent races with consistent podiums and race-winning pace — remains an enormous challenge. However, Ferrari can no longer afford to delay development steps. The new suspension is part of a wider strategy from team principal Frédéric Vasseur and his technical department, aimed at increasing the SF-25’s performance window and handling consistency.
The new technical component has already been examined in detail by the Sky Sport F1 team. After initial insights by commentator Carlo Vanzini, it was Roberto Chinchero who provided further technical perspective during a live broadcast on Sky Sport.
“This isn’t an ideal situation for those looking for immediate answers,” said Roberto Chinchero when discussing the limited testing time available to assess the upgrade. “There won’t be time to conduct proper back-to-back comparisons or to carry out full qualifying and race simulations, especially during the Friday afternoon session.”
Roberto Chinchero pointed out that Ferrari has tried to mitigate this issue by using one of its allocated filming days last week at the Mugello circuit. While the event allowed only 200 kilometers of running — and thus came with heavy mileage restrictions — it still gave the Scuderia a preliminary sense of the new component’s behavior on track.
Due to the Sprint weekend format in Belgium, Ferrari will have only a single free practice session on Friday to evaluate the update before the car is locked into parc fermé conditions. This severely limits the time available to fine-tune the suspension or adapt the car’s setup.
“The only chance they’ll have to make further changes will be after the Sprint race on Saturday morning, before qualifying for the Grand Prix itself,” Roberto Chinchero explained. “That opens the door for a possible performance boost from Ferrari. It’s hard to predict exactly how much they can gain, but the real question is whether they will manage to trouble McLaren.”
The plan set in motion by Frédéric Vasseur and his technical team might be, in Roberto Chinchero’s words, “perhaps a little too ambitious.” Nonetheless, the Italian journalist remains cautiously optimistic about the move.
He concluded by suggesting that this could be the decisive step that cements Ferrari as the consistent second-best team in the pecking order behind McLaren. If the upgrade proves successful, it could place the Scuderia in a strong position to seize any opportunity that arises in the second half of the 2025 season — particularly in cases where McLaren may underperform or encounter unexpected difficulties during a race weekend.
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