During the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, Ferrari finally received the official confirmation and technical feedback validating the effectiveness of the first corrective measure applied to their 2025 Formula 1 car, the SF-25. This intervention aimed to address the persistent and limiting issues linked to the car’s aeromechanical platform, which had compromised its consistency and competitiveness in the early part of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The comprehensive development package, which notably included a newly designed floor, was conceived with the primary objective of expanding the SF-25’s optimal setup operating window. The outcome was encouraging: the upgraded SF-25 demonstrated significantly improved behavior on track, showing itself capable of running as the second-fastest car behind the dominant Red Bull Racing RB21, with Mercedes trailing further back in relative performance.
Jerome D’Ambrosio, who currently holds a key leadership and technical advisory role within the Ferrari team, stated that it had been important to observe how the studies and developments carried out at Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello—particularly those conducted in the wind tunnel—were effectively confirmed by the data gathered during real-world testing on the racetrack. Jerome D’Ambrosio’s statement referred to the so-called “auxiliary” upgrade package applied to the SF-25—an update that, although not part of a revolutionary overhaul, is now being recognized as a critical preparatory step for future development phases. Among those next stages is the highly anticipated introduction of a revised and completely updated rear suspension system.
When questioned about the upcoming mechanical changes and potential evolution steps, Jerome D’Ambrosio responded with cautious optimism, stating “we’ll see” regarding the expected mechanical alterations. Nevertheless, Ferrari’s internal technical division, guided by top engineers and performance specialists, already has a structured plan in motion for the rollout of these new parts and components.
Looking ahead to the month of July, Ferrari is expected to conduct its second official filming day of the 2025 season. This session represents a clever and strategic opportunity to test the completely revised rear suspension system under controlled but meaningful track conditions. The team will be able to cover up to 200 kilometres of on-track running, which is the maximum allowed for such an event under current FIA regulations. This distance will be extremely valuable for evaluating the performance and behavior of a mechanical component that has taken more than five months of development work.
The primary structural issue around which the entire technical project of the Ferrari SF-25 has been redefined is precisely the rear suspension system. The new suspension architecture has been under internal development within the Maranello-based team since the very beginning of the 2025 Formula One season. The decision by Loic Serra, who currently leads chassis performance engineering at the Maranello team, to invest time, effort, and technical resources in reworking a car concept that was flawed from the outset, stems from his belief in the so-called “unexpressed potential” of the SF-25.
The new rear suspension has been designed with the principal goal of unlocking this latent performance. However, this is by no means an easy challenge. It required a critical reassessment and partial reversal of some of the initial design decisions taken at the project’s inception. Rethinking and reshaping an already homologated technical platform is a complex operation that required multiple phases of evaluation, simulation, and conceptual refinement. Additionally, all of this had to be done within the constraints of the existing technical rulebook and the financial limitations imposed by the current cost cap regulations. These aspects, including Ferrari’s decision to continue believing in the SF-25 despite it being a car developed in the final phase of the current regulatory cycle, have been discussed in greater detail in a dedicated technical article.
Validating this new rear suspension configuration is absolutely essential but far from straightforward. For this reason, Ferrari has already scheduled a 200-kilometre filming day at the Mugello Circuit, their second owned circuit besides Fiorano, for the month of July. During this event, the SF-25 will take to the track equipped with the updated rear mechanical components, allowing the team to gather crucial performance data.
The test will require a detailed and methodical analysis of the real telemetry and on-track data. It will serve as a proper validation test of this important new component. Only after reviewing the data from this filming day will the Ferrari engineers and technicians make a final decision on whether, and exactly when, the revised rear suspension system will be introduced in a race weekend context.
The choice to use the Mugello Circuit, instead of the Fiorano test track, is a deliberate and strategic one. While Fiorano is commonly used for shakedowns and basic testing, Mugello offers technical characteristics much more representative of a modern Grand Prix circuit. With its sweeping high-speed corners, such as Arrabbiata 1 and Arrabbiata 2, and its undulating elevation changes, Mugello places more realistic and demanding loads on the car’s platform—conditions that better simulate what the suspension will face during actual race weekends, as explained by F1 experts Rosario Giuliana and Giuliano Duchessa for autoracer.it.
These demanding features will enable the Scuderia’s engineers to collect more meaningful and accurate data for fine-tuning the mechanical behavior of the new suspension layout. Data collected at Fiorano would not carry the same relevance due to its simpler layout and lower lateral energy loads.
This new rear suspension configuration, as clarified by Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur, should—if the test goes according to expectations—help the SF-25 maintain better control over the movement of the rear axle. That, in turn, would help stabilize the overall aeromechanical platform of the car and broaden the working range of the vehicle’s setup window. Addressing this very issue has been one of the key challenges for the SF-25 in the opening rounds of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship.
This entire engineering plan and development strategy also explains why the upcoming British Grand Prix at Silverstone is not considered a suitable occasion for the debut of the new rear suspension component. In the United Kingdom, Ferrari is not expected to bring major new updates to the SF-25. Instead, the Italian team will continue gathering data and refining the understanding of the newly introduced floor upgrade. The goal for Silverstone will be to maximize the potential of the current aerodynamic package without rushing into mechanical changes.
Ferrari has deliberately opted for a non-aggressive and careful strategy in introducing this significant new suspension component. This caution comes in part from observing how similar upgrades at other teams, such as Mercedes, did not yield immediate improvements and required several races of further tuning.
Moreover, the risk of implementing such a mechanically complex update based solely on theoretical expectations—essentially taking a blind leap of faith—could easily do more harm than good. For Ferrari, a team aiming to return to consistent front-running competitiveness in the second half of the 2025 Formula 1 season, this balance between ambition and technical prudence is more critical than ever.
And you? What do you think about Ferrari’s plan to introduce the new suspension for the SF-25 after the Mugello test? Let us know with a comment at the end of the article or on our social media channels: Facebook Group / Facebook Page / Instagram / X (former Twitter)
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