The first indications are positive, even though the conditions in which the modified SF-25 ran weren’t ideal: a dirty track with sand blown in by the desert wind and prohibitive temperatures that caused the tires to overheat during the first flying lap.
Lewis Hamilton complained a lot about the conditions he was forced to drive in during the early laps of FP1 in Bahrain, not even finding the preseason test parameters. The seven-time world champion, however, focused on a meticulous job of understanding the car, mostly running on the hard tire compound.
On the second car, freed up by Charles Leclerc, Dino Beganovic made his debut, the Bosnian-Swedish FDA young driver who races in F3: the young man started the session with the standard SF-25 before switching to the new configuration.
In Giorgio Piola’s stunning image for Motorsport.com, we can observe the new floor before it was mounted on Dino Beganovic’s car: the shot highlights the complete “tub,” but particularly allows us to look at the flow deviators that split the air at the entrance of the Venturi channels.
Beyond the very aggressive external bargeboard, from which the serrations on the “crest” that were seen all the way to Japan have been removed, it’s striking how each vertical wall has a different design and angle, the result of a precise wind tunnel analysis of the floor.
The deputy team principal, Jerome D’Ambrosio, explained to the journalists that the new solution has one function: to maintain the drivability achieved by the SF-25 while increasing aerodynamic downforce, hoping that the added downforce will lead to better performance.
The cradle of the floor also makes the shape of the keel visible, which has been revised in the diffuser with the aim of increasing the flow filling inside the extractor. The Belgian manager does not believe the updates will solve all of Ferrari’s problems, but the expectation is to make a step forward to close the gap with McLaren, positioning themselves again as the second force.
