Ferrari SF-25 suspension evolution: what worked, what didn’t, and where they stand now. Ferrari’s new rear suspension, introduced at Spa, has helped reduce the gap to McLaren but also brought challenges.

Ferrari’s new suspension shows both strengths and weaknesses: the full assessment

The new rear suspension introduced by Ferrari at the Belgian Grand Prix marked the team’s last major upgrade so far — now seven Grands Prix ago. Since then, Mercedes and particularly Red Bull have continued to bring updates, surpassing the Scuderia in overall performance. When compared with McLaren, however, Ferrari’s SF-25 has shown a modest recovery thanks to the new rear-end configuration, though not without side effects, which seem to have particularly affected Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc’s experiments behind the wheel

Charles Leclerc’s comments during the Austin weekend raised curiosity, especially when he discussed the changes made to the car before qualifying. “I didn’t revolutionize the car, but we made small steps here and there — especially with something new I tried today that helped me with my driving style,” the Monegasque told Sky Sport F1. During the Sprint race, Charles Leclerc took the opportunity to experiment with several steering wheel settings, most likely adjusting elements such as brake balance, brake migration, differential settings, and power delivery.

Among these, the differential adjustments are among the most influential. They can be tuned independently for corner entry and mid-corner phases. By opening or tightening the differential, the car can slightly alter the torque distribution between the driven wheels, creating a subtle imbalance in forces between the inner and outer sides. This can make the car either more oversteery or understeery, helping drivers fine-tune stability and responsiveness depending on whether they are braking or accelerating through a turn.

Leclerc’s experiments highlight his effort to adapt the updated SF-25 to his own driving style — something he confirmed himself: “For a few races, I was struggling to drive this car with the new parts. Today I think I found something.” The reference was to the new rear suspension introduced at Spa, Ferrari’s last major upgrade, which may have shifted the car’s balance away from Charles Leclerc’s personal preferences.

Hamilton’s growth and adaptation

Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, has not mentioned any specific difficulties since the suspension update. Quite the opposite — the British driver has repeatedly said he finally feels at one with the car, as reflected by his growing competitiveness against his teammate. The seven-time world champion has worked on several areas, including the new rear brake pads introduced from Belgium onward, but it’s reasonable to wonder whether his increased confidence and Leclerc’s struggles might both stem from the suspension changes.

Both Ferrari drivers share a very aggressive braking style. However, Charles Leclerc tends to prefer a more oversteer-oriented, front-focused car. Earlier in the season, before the summer break, Hamilton had occasionally raced with a higher-downforce rear wing than his teammate, aiming to stabilize the rear end — something that hasn’t occurred since Zandvoort. In Singapore, Lewis briefly reverted to a higher-downforce setup during practice, but in Baku, he even followed Charles Leclerc’s lead by running with less rear load.

The working theory is that the new suspension has improved the SF-25’s rear stability, giving Lewis Hamilton greater confidence while making it harder for Leclerc to rotate the car as sharply as before. The feeling inside the team is that drivability has been affected, narrowing the car’s setup window. This has been visible in Ferrari’s recurring struggles to find a solid balance — as seen in their setup reversions across Zandvoort, Baku, Singapore, and Austin.

However, data shows that the new suspension has allowed for a slight aerodynamic gain, letting the car run a few millimeters lower to the ground. Still, the system has not fully solved Ferrari’s ongoing ride-height control issues — a problem that forced the team to raise the car again after Friday practice in Singapore.

Comparing Ferrari’s progress with McLaren

It remains difficult to precisely quantify the impact of Ferrari’s updated suspension since its debut in Belgium. Red Bull and Mercedes have continued to bring major developments, which means McLaren serves as the most reliable benchmark — their last big update being the floor introduced at Spa. The numbers indicate a small step forward for Ferrari, as the average qualifying gap between the two teams dropped from 0.46% (from Miami to Silverstone) to 0.38% with the new suspension fitted.

Notably, in three of these nine qualifying sessions, Ferrari reduced the gap to McLaren to within 0.10% — something that never happened in the earlier part of the season.

Ferrari–McLaren qualifying gaps (post-upgrade)

Overall assessment

It’s important to note that McLaren’s own recent struggles on certain tracks affect the comparison, as do the upgrades both teams introduced between Austria and Britain. Still, the SF-25 has not shown any clear performance drop-off relative to McLaren since the rear suspension was added — even though the Woking-based team made gains of its own with the new floor at Spa.

Although the update created extra challenges for Charles Leclerc, it seems to have delivered genuine performance benefits for Ferrari overall. The team’s declining results are instead tied to their early decision to halt development, unlike Red Bull and Mercedes who continued to evolve their cars through the later stages of the season. Nevertheless, the gap to McLaren remains significant, leaving Ferrari increasingly at risk of ending the season without a single victory.

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