Ferrari is lacking in terms of balance and is unable to use the reference plane distance that it prefers, the one that would be most effective. In this regard, Lewis Hamilton’s statements have sparked discussion. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion pointed out that the SF-25 is running higher than the team would like. This situation opens the door to several hypotheses and important interpretations to be made.
In this very early phase of the 2025 racing season, by observing the car’s performance on track, we believe that the SF-25 is still using heights within the established range, but, theoretically, it could lower them further to find an additional load benefit. It’s also true that, after the disqualification in China, the Maranello team chose to avoid taking too many risks.
A conservative approach, in other words. At Suzuka, there was a partial resurfacing of the track: from the last chicane all the way through the first sector. The rest remained unchanged. As a result, there were bumps that limited the lowering of the floor. Considering the layout of the track, Ferrari chose to use stiffer suspension components, which brought the expected benefits, as the red car was competitive in the first sector.
As mentioned in the Japan preview, the setup was built starting from this area, where the team knew McLaren and Red Bull‘s handling would be highly competitive. However, being unable to lower the car as desired could be caused by a suspension philosophy that allows for more squat, an approach in contrast to stiffer configurations.
At least two-tenths lost due to imperfect balance
It is important to specify that squat is the key parameter for providing traction, which can offer significant advantages, especially on tracks other than Suzuka. Furthermore, Ferrari is currently unable to fully leverage this philosophy, which, on paper, could lead to comparable results. They could stiffen the setup more, finding more performance in the faster sections, without losing too much in the slower parts.
This is a situation Charles Leclerc came quite close to, choosing a different setup than Lewis Hamilton. The Prancing Horse, to improve the areas where downforce was critical, had to find a compromise, as it couldn’t fully exploit the areas where competitiveness was needed in acceleration phases. This is all due to the known issues with the still-too-narrow operating window.
The lack of balance accounts for about two-tenths of pure performance. A puzzle that is not yet complete, as the effectiveness of the setup “construction” has yet to fully materialize. This scenario reduces the car’s performance, especially on complete and technical tracks like the Japanese one. The Maranello team is currently working on this factor to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
The necessary progress on ground height
Examining the behavior of the SF-25, we don’t believe that Ferrari has a more sensitive aerodynamic platform to ground heights than other cars. All current F1 cars are quite tied to this parameter, which governs the competitiveness of ground effect vehicles. Ferrari has still found a good level of downforce, even though it’s not yet using the heights it would prefer.
Within this scenario, one question arises: do other teams manage to lower the car more thanks to smart tricks? It seems so. In recent seasons, in fact, we have seen systems that directly acted on the car’s floor, to produce greater flexing while maintaining wear of the skid, the element used by the International Federation to check wear levels at the end of the race.
We’re talking about a gray area of the regulations, where potentially a lot of performance can be found. It cannot be excluded that the Italian team is not as skilled at benefiting from this aspect, having to use heights 1 or 2 mm higher. A distance that may not seem very large, but in reality, can make a significant difference. The idea that emerges is precisely this, as Ferrari still hasn’t figured out how to use the desired heights.
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