The Chinese Grand Prix is heating up. Ferrari needs to wipe away the disappointing weekend in Melbourne, where the true potential of the SF-25 remained unrealized. This does not mean that at the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit, the Prancing Horse will be the car to beat. However, what we saw last weekend in the Australian Grand Prix, after weeks of celebrations and grand declarations about the 2025 Formula 1 title fight, hardly seems credible.
The performance of the Italian car in the Albert Park “swimming pool” was not real—this is the general sentiment within the Maranello team and among many insiders. In just a few hours, some doubts will be dispelled. In the meantime, we can analyze the images coming from the Chinese circuit, which are very useful for making a comparison on the approach to the chosen configurations, naturally while awaiting all necessary confirmations from Friday’s first free practice session.
A first analysis is useful to understand how teams interpret the level of downforce. Let’s not forget the importance of the car’s balance, a factor that makes an enormous difference in determining the outcome of the weekend. Never before in the wing car era has such a performance gap been observed between those who get the setup right and those who only come close. All of this must be considered within the Sprint Race format.
Ferrari continues working to optimize the SF-25. The Prancing Horse has been widely discussed in the past race weekend and thousands of words have been written by the media, with the rear wing being one of the most talked-about topics. In the land of kangaroos, Ferrari opted for a version with more downforce than the track required. For many, this was not the correct choice, sparking various controversies over the reasons behind it.
Just as in 2024, Ferrari is once again trying to optimize the car within a predetermined downforce range. And indeed, while we cannot rule out the possibility that another version might “magically” appear in the coming hours, for now, as anticipated, the Maranello team’s technicians and engineers have decided to continue development using the same specification employed in the first round of the current 2025 Formula 1 racing season.
The group of Italian engineers aims to maximize their understanding of the car with this level of vertical load, in an attempt to streamline the learning process. Keeping the layout of the Shanghai International Circuit in mind, this version is undoubtedly more in line with other teams. The idea is to optimize top speeds while still having good downforce in the support zones. As always, only the track will determine whether the choice is correct, depending on the type of load it provides.
On this matter, one point needs to be clarified. One of the most important aspects of this reasoning relates to the necessary balance of downforce between the two axles, a fundamental factor in making lap time as effective as possible. Ferrari has conducted extensive studies in the simulator, and we know that a large part of the work has focused on addressing the endemic lack of rotation shown by the SF-25 single-seater, with the clear goal of making the car more neutral.
During the only sixty minutes available in the first free practice session, which precedes the weekend’s first qualifying session, the Maranello team will work to minimize the annoying understeer observed in the Australian event. For the sake of completeness, looking back at last year’s Chinese Grand Prix, it appears that compared to 2024, Ferrari’s engineers have decided to take a different approach to setup.
Everything stems from the poor performance displayed by the Ferrari SF-24 in the second sector of the beautiful yet highly complex Eastern circuit. Last season, from the pre-season testing session onward, Ferrari started with a less loaded rear wing in the on-track sessions at Sakhir, a setup that was then maintained and used for several Grands Prix in the early phase of the championship. Now, the Maranello team prefers a higher-downforce version.
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