Ferrari’s new floor proves effective and expands SF-25’s operating window

Ferrari, with its new floor, finally completed a positive day in Formula 1 with clean sessions. Today’s result in the qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix is largely due to the Maranello team’s efforts, particularly its strong work in fine-tuning the SF-25. However, it is also fair to admit that part of the credit also goes to their rivals’ underperformance. Aside from Lando Norris, the rest of the competition failed to extract the most from their cars. Oscar Piastri, in particular, was six-tenths slower than his McLaren teammate.

For Ferrari, teamwork pays off, and so does the new floor. The Maranello team executed a very focused work plan during the final free practice session, FP3, where they tested setup changes initially defined in the simulator before the race weekend. Drivers and engineers studied the car’s behavior in detail, convinced that every element could make a difference — and it did.

Aerodynamic tests were conducted on the rear wing’s angle of attack, and the same applies to suspension stiffness. Overall, the SF-25 single-seater remained a difficult car to drive, as the drivers struggled to piece together a clean lap. However, the setup compromise delivered more performance than usual, which the drivers — especially Charles Leclerc — managed to extract by controlling the car’s unpredictable behavior.

After all evaluations, the final setup turned out to be a decent compromise, even if not fully satisfying. Generally, there was understeer across much of the lap, especially at medium-speed corners. This translated into excess rotation on corner exits. The overall balance was delicate and hard to manage, which became evident during Q3 on both cars.

Oversteer in the third phase of the corner has been a recurring issue with the SF-25. This has been noted since the beginning of the 2025 Formula 1 season, and the Maranello team has often worked intensively over race weekends in order to minimize it. The lack of rotation also remains problematic and is attributed to several technical factors — a characteristic that continues to define the Italian cars. Traction was good, although the Ferrari drivers did not always manage to put down all the available power effectively.

So is Ferrari’s front row truly glorious? Realistically, Ferrari was significantly behind McLaren. If Mercedes and Red Bull had nailed a better setup, they likely would have joined the fight. In other words, this front row start also results from others’ problems. Max Verstappen, without his final attempt, was on par with Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri had the potential to be ahead of an exceptional Charles Leclerc.

The most important takeaway for the Italian team, however, is that the new floor did exactly what it was supposed to. Specifically, it expanded the car’s operational window — a target discussed for months. While this needs confirmation in future races, at this circuit, after extensive analysis, it was easier to find a better compromise between high and low-speed cornering.

Corners 6 and 7 are the most relevant when assessing the progress made with the new floor. In Turn 6, there was only a 1 kilometer per hour deficit, while in Turn 7, the delta compared to Lando Norris widened to 4 kilometers per hour. The key point is that downforce is now accessible under a broader range of conditions. Still, Charles Leclerc was slightly disappointed, noting that McLaren remains very strong thanks to its updates.

On the other hand Red Bull struggled with understeer, as both the Austrian side and Mercedes failed to find the effective balance they were seeking. Contrary to expectations, the RB21 did not improve significantly compared to yesterday. Understeer persisted, and in general, Max Verstappen suffered from a widespread lack of grip across all speed ranges — as he admitted over team radio. These types of issues often stem from incorrect tire activation or poor thermal management of the compounds.

It should also be noted that today’s result does not reflect the full potential of the Austrian car. The Dutchman completed only one of his two planned runs due to a late yellow flag. The rotation issues were visible even in faster corners, where the car usually has an edge.

The situation was similar for Mercedes, which this year has struggled to maximize its car’s potential. George Russell’s lap was very strong, nearly matching Charles Leclerc until Turn 4. This means that in the second half of the lap, Ferrari simply did a better job. Coming out of Turn 5, the SF-25 pulled ahead decisively. In high-speed corners, both W16 car were less stable overall. In terms of cornering speed, particularly in the second and third sectors, the German cars were on average 5 kilometers per hour slower than the Ferrari at mid-corner. McLaren remains the benchmark, showing near-perfect balance — a car that’s easy to drive, with high downforce and sublime balance throughout all track sections.