Ferrari is ready to start preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix and will do what it can. The 2025 Formula 1 season is anything but easy to manage, especially if your car has issues. This is exactly the situation the Maranello team is dealing with every single weekend. In the upcoming events, some aerodynamic updates will arrive. We are not talking about real upgrades, but rather corrections to the car.
The Italian team arrives at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal after a triple-header that highlighted the characteristics of the SF-25 single-seater. A particularly “sensitive” car, as emphasized by team principal Frederic Vasseur. The SF-25 requires enormous effort to be brought into the so-called “correct operating window”, but often this setup range is not found, making it difficult to solve the car’s technical problems.
The lack of a clear understanding of the car and its highly complex, non-linear nature makes it hard for the team to grasp the vehicle’s behavior. This results in a significant performance gap between qualifying and the race, a problem rooted in managing the setup and operating window, which has been widely discussed in previous Formula 1 rounds.
In Canada, qualifying plays a less decisive role than on other tracks, because there is more opportunity to recover in the race. However, the Italian side will still need to try to limit the damage on Saturday, especially since the SF-25 still struggles to find an ideal setup. Montreal requires medium-low aerodynamic load. The Italian car will likely be more unloaded at the rear.
This condition accentuates the lack of downforce, especially at low speeds, where the aerodynamic map proves limited. One possible advantage the Maranello-based team will need to exploit comes from the very layout of the circuit. A track that lacks fast corners and features numerous bumps and surface irregularities—these traits suit the SF-25’s peculiarities well. They can reduce the setup differences needed compared to teams like the the impressive McLaren or Red Bull. The real challenge will be mechanical in nature, finding a compromise between performance and stability. Unlike other tracks, the curbs and bumps could work in Ferrari’s favor, having shown good handling in similar conditions as seen at the Imola Grand Prix.
However, the car still appears slow in quick direction changes, an area to improve and consider, especially since Canada includes five such scenarios, even if not all chicanes feature high mid-corner speeds. The Maranello team will have to work on this aspect to avoid being limited as happened, for example, at the Variante Alta in Imola.
A crucial aspect concerns managing the Pirelli C6 tyres. Tyres that the two SF-25 cars have shown they do not handle well in terms of qualifying pace: the poor performance stems from complex thermal management of the compounds, with significant differences between the outer and inner temperatures. For each of the four tyres, the team must work to optimally align all temperatures.
In addition to the major longitudinal effort, perfect activation is required especially at the front. Also at Imola, with this compound, the SF-25 suffered a significant thermal imbalance between front and rear. A problem that can make the search for the perfect qualifying lap more difficult in Montreal. Meanwhile, over race distance, this disadvantage is reduced, and the team is confident it can be very competitive in terms of race pace.
— see video above —-
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