In less than a week, the Formula 1 grid will return to action for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, following a two-week summer break. During this pause in the championship, Scuderia Ferrari has been hard at work, determined to find solutions and possibly turn around what has so far been a frustrating and underwhelming season. To push their development forward, the Italian racing team took to the track at their home circuit in Mugello, using the FIA-permitted filming day mileage as an opportunity to conduct valuable testing over two days.
On Wednesday, Ferrari put the 2023 car, the SF-23, on track for a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) session. The duties were handled by reserve drivers Zhou Guanyu and Antonio Fuoco. Meanwhile, the current SF-25 completed just two laps with Antonio Giovinazzi at the wheel, enough to gather preliminary data for a direct comparison between the baseline SF-25 and its more heavily upgraded Evo version.
The highlight of the test came the following day, on Thursday, when Ferrari fielded the prototype version of its 2025 Formula 1 car, equipped with a brand-new rear suspension concept. The car was entrusted to the team’s two full-time race drivers — seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Monegasque talent Charles Leclerc — who each had the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the suspension within the 200 km mileage allowance granted by the FIA.
Suspension test delivers early signs of progress
Although the distance covered was limited, Ferrari’s engineers aimed to extract the maximum possible insights from the short run. To achieve this, setup duties were first carried out by the test drivers, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to focus solely on evaluating the new suspension system during their runs.
This revised rear suspension component is part of Ferrari’s effort to address the core weaknesses of the SF-25, particularly its instability in transient phases — such as direction changes or weight transfers — and its sensitivity to changes in ride height. These characteristics have contributed to the inconsistency that has plagued the car throughout the season.
Despite the use of demo tires and the limited time available to fully understand and integrate the new solution, early impressions from the Mugello test appear to be encouraging. According to sources close to the team, there is a growing sense of cautious optimism inside the Ferrari garage, thanks to promising feedback from the drivers and good correlation with simulation data. Nevertheless, any definitive judgment will have to wait until the car is tested in actual Grand Prix conditions.
Mugello layout quietly altered to simulate slow corners
In preparation for this key evaluation, the Maranello team left no stone unturned. In fact, Ferrari took the unusual step of modifying the official layout of the Mugello Circuit — the iconic track it owns near the town of Scarperia in Tuscany — specifically for the purposes of this test.
Although this change initially went unnoticed by most observers, it became apparent in one of the videos shared on Ferrari’s official social media channels. In the footage, Lewis Hamilton is seen standing at the pit wall, observing the SF-25 as it completes a lap. While the actual image of the car is not shown taking the altered corner, the audio clearly captures the sound of Charles Leclerc braking and entering a bend that does not exist in the traditional configuration of the Mugello circuit.
That portion of the track typically features a high-speed run leading into the San Donato braking zone, which is located far from the pit straight. The presence of braking and cornering sounds in that unexpected location strongly suggests that Ferrari introduced a temporary chicane or low-speed corner to stress-test specific behaviors of the new suspension.
This strategic modification to the track layout was not arbitrary. It was deliberately designed to allow the Scuderia’s technical department to gather data on how the new suspension handles slow-speed sections and acceleration zones following tight corners — precisely the conditions that expose the car’s weaknesses in transient dynamics.
Ferrari’s engineers approached this test with meticulous attention to detail, aiming to push the new mechanical component to its limits. By observing its behavior under stress in low-speed scenarios, they hoped to gather the critical insights needed to refine the system further and, ideally, resolve the performance limitations that have hampered the SF-25 so far this year.
With the upcoming races set to reveal whether these developments translate into on-track gains, the Mugello test may represent a pivotal moment in Ferrari’s 2025 campaign — and a bold step in its efforts to return to consistent competitiveness.
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