As the 2025 Formula 1 season approaches, it will be the final year under the current technical regulations, yet Ferrari is expected to implement significant changes to their car for the upcoming campaign.
Having opted for a fresh driver lineup, Ferrari has already begun its preparations for 2025. Charles Leclerc is set to start his seventh season with the team, while he will be joined by seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, marking a new era for the Maranello-based outfit.
To get Hamilton up to speed with Ferrari’s operations, the team organized an on-track activity at their private test facility in Fiorano on January 22. This allowed the British driver to complete his first laps with Ferrari and get accustomed to their setup. This session was followed by a three-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where the team ran their two-year-old SF-23 car for a “Testing of Previous Cars” session.
Just this week, Ferrari conducted another testing session at the Montmelo circuit, working with Pirelli as the Italian tire supplier tested its narrower 2026 F1 tires.
In addition to these test runs, Ferrari has confirmed that their 2025 car will be named the SF-25, continuing the naming convention they have followed in recent years, with the 2023 and 2024 cars being called SF-23 and SF-24, respectively.
With major changes set to arrive in the 2026 season, including significant revisions to power unit and aerodynamics regulations, most teams are expected to carry over their design philosophies from the 2024 season into the 2025 campaign. However, Ferrari is reportedly preparing to make several modifications to its car, adapting its design to remain competitive in the last season under the current rules.
Among the expected changes, several key areas are likely to be reworked. One of the most noticeable will be a revision of the front wing and nose. The nose is set to be lengthened, a move that has been on the cards for some time but one which teams have yet to fully converge on since the introduction of the current ground-effect regulations.
However, the most significant change could come in the suspension layout. Red Bull’s dominance in recent years has largely been attributed to their use of a pull-rod front suspension, while Ferrari has stuck with the more traditional push-rod setup for the past three seasons.
With the current generation of cars relying heavily on sophisticated venturi channels beneath the floor to generate downforce, directing as much air as possible to that area is critical. Although pull-rod suspensions fell out of favor with previous generations of cars, the aerodynamic advantages they offer for ground-effect cars are becoming increasingly evident. Pull-rod setups allow for a lower center of gravity, which is beneficial for optimizing aerodynamics, while push-rod systems are easier to implement and less costly.
Reports suggest that Ferrari is considering a switch to a pull-rod front suspension layout for the 2025 car, especially after encountering issues with porpoising during the 2024 season. This shift may also necessitate the redesign of other parts of the car, including the sidepod air inlets, which would likely need to be reshaped to accommodate the new suspension. Additionally, the cockpit might be moved further back compared to the SF-24, a modification that the British driver had previously requested while at Mercedes.
These changes signal Ferrari’s commitment to refining their design for the 2025 season, with the hope of positioning themselves as strong contenders for both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles, a target that has not been achieved by the Maranello team for almost two decades.
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