The Ferrari rear suspension update has been a key topic of discussion ever since its introduction at the Belgian Grand Prix. But we’ll get back to that in due course. Ferrari left the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with their pride bruised and spirits dented once again, marking yet another weekend that failed to meet expectations. On paper, this race could have been a golden opportunity to quickly move past the equally disappointing results of the Italian Grand Prix just a few weeks earlier. Fans and analysts alike had nurtured some optimism, largely based on Charles Leclerc’s well-documented affinity for this particular circuit and its atypical characteristics, which in theory could have favored the Scuderia’s strengths. Unfortunately, the hopes that were carefully nurtured and amplified on Friday practice sessions quickly turned into a nightmare by Saturday qualifying, a nightmare that was then confirmed with the finality of Sunday’s race results.
A struggling Ferrari
As Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur has repeatedly emphasized in press conferences and interviews, the Scuderia really needed a completely clean weekend—a weekend where everything could come together in perfect harmony. In other words, Ferrari needed an event free of mistakes, mechanical issues, or strategic miscalculations, where all components of performance could align seamlessly. This is also a way, intentionally or not, to gently spread the responsibility across the team’s drivers, as well as the technical and strategic personnel of the Italian side.
Of course, it must be noted that Charles Leclerc experienced another heavy and damaging contact with the barriers at turn 15, a corner that has proved particularly unforgiving over recent seasons, while Lewis Hamilton was unable to make it into Q3 during qualifying. However, despite these setbacks, it is important to remain objective and analyze the situation from a technical and strategic perspective. Those who were fortunate enough to watch Charles Leclerc’s onboard footage during the qualifying sessions were well aware that the events which unfolded at the very start of the final qualifying segment were, in some ways, almost inevitable. From the beginning of the session, the Monegasque driver took enormous risks, fully conscious that this was essentially the only way to place his car, the number sixteen Ferrari SF-25, in a reasonably respectable position on the starting grid. This level of calculated risk-taking has become increasingly characteristic of the Monegasque driver when faced with an uncompetitive package, and it highlights both his bravery and his understanding of the limitations of the current car.
That is simply the reality of the situation. Even with positions towards the back of the grid, Ferrari fans and experts alike were hoping for a so-called “garibaldian” performance from the team’s drivers—a performance that would be bold, aggressive, and capable of producing notable results despite the disadvantages. Early maneuvers at the start of the race initially reinforced this expectation, as both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton demonstrated flashes of strategic audacity and racecraft. However, as the laps progressed, it became evident that the pace of Ferrari’s drivers plateaued and failed to provide any real opportunity to climb multiple positions. The race unfolded as a frustrating display of limitations, culminating in an unfortunate misunderstanding that prevented the drivers from exchanging positions before crossing the finish line, leaving the final results even more disappointing.
Ferrari, a worrying inertia
After several races have passed since the debut of the modified rear suspension, which was first introduced at the Spa-Francorchamps race weekend, certain hypotheses and analyses can be made regarding Ferrari’s technical direction and performance. It is important to establish a key premise: Loïc Serra was not recruited by Ferrari to serve as the team’s technical director. The former Mercedes engineer was instead brought on in the capacity of “Head of Chassis Performance Engineering,” reporting directly to Enrico Cardile, the team’s technical director at the time. This was a role that Loic Serra had never held before in his long and accomplished career within Formula 1, and his appointment represented a strategic decision by Ferrari to bring fresh perspectives to the chassis development program.
If the Ferrari SF-25 is a project primarily overseen by Enrico Cardile, as has often been emphasized by Frédéric Vasseur, then the only truly significant and comprehensive upgrade package for the 2025 car was implemented under Loïc Serra’s technical supervision. At this juncture, two possibilities emerge: either the Ferrari SF-25 is a project with fundamental issues that cannot be remedied by any update, no matter how extensive or invasive, or the fix introduced on the rear suspension may have inadvertently worsened the situation rather than improving it.
To provide perspective, Ferrari has accumulated only sixty-six points over the first five races of the season, with just a single podium finish—achieved by Charles Leclerc at Spa-Francorchamps. By comparison, Max Verstappen alone has scored sixty-eight points over the last three Grands Prix, highlighting the gulf in performance between the Red Bull Racing team and Ferrari in recent weeks. While it remains to be seen what this technical group can achieve when starting a project from a blank slate, it is clear that the anticipated performance boost from the rear suspension upgrade simply did not materialize, leaving both the team and fans searching for answers.
The necessary awareness about the SF-25
By contrast, Red Bull has managed to regain a level of competitiveness that seemed almost lost prior to the summer break. From a certain analytical perspective, the layouts of the Monza and Baku circuits aligned favorably with the inherent characteristics of the RB21, allowing Red Bull to extract strong results. However, without the floor upgrade introduced specifically for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, along with a series of other technical improvements on the RB21, it would have been far from guaranteed that the Milton Keynes-based team could return to a high level of competitive performance.
What is particularly concerning for Ferrari moving forward is that the technical group led by Loïc Serra is already finalizing the 2026 project, effectively moving focus to the next car while the current SF-25 still struggles to perform at an acceptable level. Looking at the near-term future, it is evident that the SF-25 project is so fundamentally uncompetitive that even invasive technical updates are unlikely to yield substantial improvements. For Ferrari, continuing to hope for a sudden and dramatic turnaround in the next seven races carries the very real risk of creating false expectations without any underlying technical justification or certainty.
From a broader perspective, Ferrari’s struggles highlight not just the limitations of a single component such as the rear suspension, but also underline the inherent difficulties of developing a car in a highly competitive Formula 1 environment, where even minor miscalculations can have cascading consequences across performance, strategy, and driver confidence. While Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton continue to demonstrate exceptional skill and determination behind the wheel, their efforts are inevitably constrained by the limitations of the SF-25 chassis, leaving the team with difficult decisions regarding technical direction, resource allocation, and driver strategy.
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