Ferrari still failing to control tyre surface temperatures with the SF-25 | F1 Abu Dhabi GP. Ferrari’s SF-25 continues to suffer from an inability to control rear tyre surface temperature spikes.

Ferrari cannot flatten the surface-temperature peak on the tyres

Ferrari optimized with Charles Leclerc but got it wrong with Lewis Hamilton. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, round 24 of the Formula 1 season, brought only a half-smile for Charles. However, the problems remain significant when it comes to tyre management, as the SF-25 is simply unable to control the surface temperature of the compounds. This leads to a loss of grip that, in the third sector of the circuit, heavily compromises the performance achievable at Yas Marina.

Ferrari, a puzzle that only Charles managed to solve

The final qualifying session of the year was also one of the most competitive. The track evolved steadily, and it needed to be followed closely to maximize performance. Execution therefore became crucial. To reach the front rows, everything had to be perfect. Ferrari’s realistic target today was to beat Mercedes, which overall looked like a car that was easier to drive.

Lewis was the first to slip up in these conditions, being eliminated in Q1 for the fourth time in a row if we also count the sprint. Charles, on the other hand, managed to bring the car into the final part of qualifying, although several key elements were missing to fight for the positions that matter. The situation was made difficult by the many limitations of the SF-25, which must be managed with extreme care.

And this is one of those topics rarely discussed, yet in reality it has a huge impact on a driver’s handling. Having to manage three or four weaknesses over the course of a lap means the level of attention behind the wheel must be extremely high. And if even one of those weaknesses becomes too prominent, the car can quickly spin or completely ruin the lap time.

The team extracted the maximum from the SF-25

Compared to yesterday, the balance remained very similar. The Maranello team avoided drastically changing the setup from one day to the next. For this reason, the group of engineers led by Frédéric Vasseur believed they had extracted the maximum performance possible from the Modena-built car. According to the engineers, a better compromise simply was not achievable, although the team principal noted that there was still a little more to squeeze out of the car.

As mentioned this morning, Ferrari decided to move the car’s balance slightly forward and, at the same time, focus on maximizing traction performance. This approach reduced losses in several strategic areas of the circuit. Leclerc optimized his performance in the first and second sectors; under these conditions, there was nothing more to extract.

Turn 1 continued to be too tricky. That tenth lost in the first sector came from a small snap of oversteer on entry, which Charles suffered during his final Q3 attempt. His intention was to carry as much speed as possible through mid-corner, but right at the apex the car became unsettled. In Turn 5 he was perfect, managing to deploy all the power unit’s horsepower in an excellent way.

The middle part of the Yas Marina lap also went smoothly, with Charles doing what he could through Turn 9, where the SF-25 was extremely unstable. It is worth noting that in Q2, in that very section, he came close to repeating Hamilton’s mistake that sent him into the barriers during FP3. Even George Russell’s lap was not impressive, as he made mistakes in Turn 5 and again in the final corner.

The usual tyres that do not work the way Ferrari’s SF-25 needs

Mercedes lacked execution today, and despite that, George Russell was still faster than Charles Leclerc. This highlights that, at least today, beating the number 81 W16 was impossible for Ferrari. The final sector of the circuit once again exposed the SF-25’s limitations in thermal management. In that section, during pure traction phases, the rear tyres experience extremely high load.

The Italian team was unable to flatten the heat peak that builds up on the surface of the rear tyres. This issue reduces the car’s ability to generate grip during cornering phases. McLaren and Red Bull had a clear advantage in this respect. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons, but both cars reached the finish line with tyres operating close to their optimal temperature window. Ferrari can only dream of that.

Ferrari extracted the maximum from the package today – but the package still has a fundamental flaw that no amount of driver heroics can fully hide.