Was Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 project fundamentally flawed from the beginning? This is the million-dollar question many have asked since pre-season testing, and one that still lacks a clear-cut answer. However, what is certain is that the team has struggled since the very start, which set off a technical pursuit that has now led to the introduction of a brand-new rear suspension, scheduled to debut at the Belgian Grand Prix. But the real question is: what is Ferrari expecting to gain from this update?
The Italian team has identified the pull-rod rear suspension as one of the potential contributors to the car’s performance issues. The inability to operate the car at the ride heights originally intended in the design phase has been a limiting factor. The Venturi tunnels underneath the floor have not been able to generate sufficient downforce, nor provide consistent aerodynamic stability throughout a lap. Excessive squat during acceleration has destabilized the rear end, preventing the aerodynamic platform from functioning as intended. This is, in essence, the heart of the issue that Ferrari hopes to address starting with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
The changes introduced by the technical team led by Loïc Serra are not radical. There has been no drastic overhaul. The key modification concerns the upper wishbone, where the mounting point of the front arm has been moved lower and further forward. This adjustment alters the suspension kinematics, modifying the level of anti-squat and aiming to regain dynamic control over the car’s rear end. The goal is to stabilize the floor and broaden the car’s aerodynamic map. These suspension changes are designed to work in synergy with the new floor introduced during the Austrian Grand Prix, a major component that already addressed several issues on the SF-25. Ferrari now hopes to achieve more consistent downforce across a broader range of speeds—an upgrade that could be particularly beneficial at a high-speed track like Spa.
Up to this point, everything described has been theory—the technical concept Ferrari has tried to implement with its rear suspension redesign. The real test will come on track, and with a component as complex and critical as suspension, theory doesn’t always align with practice. Earlier this year, Ferrari encountered uncertainties during wind tunnel, CFD, and dynamic rig simulations.
Some of those doubts were addressed through a preliminary on-track shakedown at Mugello. Despite covering just 200 kilometers, and despite the limitations inherent to a filming day, the session provided useful data. While it cannot replicate the full dynamics of an official free practice session, the real-world track environment still offered valuable insights. With this approach, Ferrari has taken a page from McLaren’s book.
The Woking-based team often installs new components briefly, tests them, and then removes them—not as a rejection, but as part of a planned data-gathering program. This method was even misinterpreted earlier this season when McLaren briefly tested a new floor in the UK, prompting rumors of rejection. However, team principal Andrea Stella clarified that it was a deliberate data collection phase, directed by technical chief Rob Marshall. The data was later processed via simulation to refine the final version of the part, which is now ready to debut at Spa.
Ferrari has taken a similar route, using its second and final filming day of the season to follow this methodology and arrive in Belgium with a clearer understanding of how the updated suspension behaves. The team now has a variety of suspension setup configurations available to exploit during the single 60-minute free practice session before the Sprint Race.
While the Sprint format presents limitations, it may not necessarily be a disadvantage. Of course, having three full practice sessions would have offered more opportunities for data gathering. Yet the 100-kilometre Sprint on Saturday will allow Ferrari to test the rear pull-rod system in genuine race conditions—a valuable trial to assess its real-world impact and potentially make setup refinements based on race-relevant feedback.
Ferrari therefore enters this pivotal weekend with high hopes. Even though the team is no longer in contention for the 2025 World Championship title, this update plays a crucial role in restoring competitiveness, boosting team morale, and proving the resilience of its development program—all factors that support team principal Frédéric Vasseur’s long-term vision.
After weeks of anticipation, the component is finally here. Ferrari has arrived at Spa with an updated rear suspension system developed specifically to solve the early-season issues surrounding ride height control. The Italian side revealed the update during pit stop practice sessions, ahead of its full on-track evaluation.
The new suspension
As expected, the most visible change to the rear of the Ferrari SF-25 concerns the forward arm of the upper wishbone. Ferrari has repositioned its attachment point to a lower location on the gearbox, altering the external structure of the transmission. This new geometry affects the airflow toward the rear of the car and is primarily aimed at introducing anti-pitch characteristics to better manage vertical oscillations in ride height during dynamic phases of driving. This change is similar to the one implemented by Mercedes during the Imola round and aligns with trends seen throughout the four years of ground-effect Formula 1 car development.
According to current regulations, Ferrari is only required to declare externally visible changes. However, it is reasonable to assume that engineers in Maranello have also worked on the internal linkages and the spring-damper assembly, with the ongoing objective of improving ride height control. Nevertheless, the extent of the modifications has been limited by the compact packaging of the transmission, which has prevented a more radical overhaul of the suspension system.
What to expect
The primary goal of the update is to expand the operational window of the Ferrari SF-25, providing engineers with more flexibility in setup choices. On one hand, the aim is to stabilize floor oscillations so the car can run closer to the ground without causing excessive plank wear during races—a risk that previously led to disqualification in China. With modern ground-effect F1 cars, every millimetre by which static ride height can be lowered is estimated to yield approximately half a tenth of aerodynamic gain per lap, although this figure varies depending on the circuit.
On the other hand, Ferrari wants to be able to run the SF-25 lower to the ground without needing to stiffen the rear suspension excessively, which would otherwise compromise mechanical grip at low speed and reduce traction when exiting corners.
These suspension updates are meant to work hand-in-hand with the new floor introduced at the Austrian Grand Prix. It may be overly optimistic to expect Ferrari to contend for victory on every track given McLaren’s adaptability, but a more realistic target is to close the gap enough to celebrate a few race wins before the end of the season. Such hopes are not unfounded, considering the strong potential shown by the SF-25 during the opening Friday practice session in Australia—before the team was forced to raise the car due to poor ride height management, resulting in a loss of downforce.
Final verdict: still pending
Much has changed since that Australian Grand Prix, and rivals have never stopped developing. Ferrari, for its part, is introducing a sensitive and complex update during a Sprint weekend, which allows for only a single hour of free practice to dial in the new suspension. This limited track time comes despite the 200 kilometers covered at the Mugello filming day last week. On top of that, the weather forecast for Spa threatens rain—conditions that have historically been challenging for Ferrari. However, the added rear downforce and softer rear end provided by the new suspension geometry could prove beneficial in wet conditions.
Finally, it’s important to note that the next two races—Hungary and the Netherlands—are tracks that appear tailor-made for McLaren. If immediate results do not materialize for Ferrari, it will be crucial not to draw premature conclusions.
— see video above —
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