The Formula 1 World Championship arrives at the historic Silverstone Circuit for the 2025 British Grand Prix, marking a crucial and highly anticipated test for Ferrari to confirm the encouraging and positive impressions gained during the recent Austrian Grand Prix following the introduction of the new and upgraded floor aerodynamic package. The Italian racing team eagerly awaits the anticipated debut of the updated rear suspension system, which is expected to make its competitive debut at the upcoming Spa-Francorchamps race in Belgium, scheduled to take place in two weeks’ time. This will be subject to a prior test and filming day session with the Ferrari SF-25 car at the Mugello Circuit planned for mid-July. This particular race represents a home event for the British driver Lewis Hamilton, who won last year’s British Grand Prix while driving for Mercedes.
First Impressions from the Silverstone Track
At Ferrari’s engineering and manufacturing headquarters in Maranello, there appears to be noticeably more optimism and confidence than what has usually been the case in recent races. The recent remarks and encouraging words expressed by the Monegasque Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc during yesterday’s press conference have been aimed at boosting morale and confidence within a team that remains affected by a difficult and challenging start to the 2025 season, a start that has unfortunately fallen short of the high expectations set during the winter preseason. With only four podium finishes achieved so far this year, the Maranello team is well aware that there remains significant room for improvement. Charles Leclerc is hopeful and determined to be fully competitive and in the thick of the race for top positions during this weekend’s British Grand Prix, even though the usual rival, the McLaren F1 Team, led by Lando Norris, is still considered the favorite going into the race weekend.
Now let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for the Italian side in the first free practice session for the British Grand Prix.
During the initial stint on track, the Ferrari drivers deployed Medium compound tires, a strategic tire choice that offers an optimal compromise between performance and durability. This allowed the team to conduct a thorough evaluation of the car’s baseline aerodynamic and mechanical setup. At this stage, the internal combustion engine mapping was configured to “Engine 4,” which indicates a reduced power mode designed to preserve reliability and manage tire wear. The previous lap had been dedicated to a series of steady-speed runs intended to analyze the aerodynamic efficiency with the rear wing set in a closed configuration, optimizing drag reduction.
In the initial series of pushed laps, the car’s balance appeared stable and well-controlled, although the overall pace remained relatively moderate and did not yet allow the team to draw definitive conclusions. The gearbox system was set to the GX2 mapping, which offers quicker and more responsive gear changes compared to the standard settings. During the cooling laps, the team continued to collect additional data at fixed speeds. There were also important checks on the hybrid power unit to verify the correct distribution and deployment of the extra 160 horsepower provided by the electric motor, in accordance with the pre-established energy management strategy.
Charles Leclerc completed his first stint on track, while Lewis Hamilton decided to extend his time on the circuit by repeating the same program of work already carried out. Despite similar weather and track conditions, Lewis Hamilton was able to temporarily place himself at the top of the timing sheets. He then requested two cooling laps to reduce the tire temperatures, which had exceeded the ideal operating limits. Meanwhile, a minor adjustment was made to the rear setup of car number 16 before Lewis Hamilton returned to the track to continue his run.
Small But Important Improvements
Over the radio, race engineer Riccardo Adami proposed several corrections aimed at improving the handling and management of the car, suggesting, for example, an intervention on the brake balance to optimize the corner entry phase at turn 16. Charles Leclerc responded by pushing harder on the accelerator pedal, showing slight oversteer at turn 4, a phenomenon common on that particular racing line.
At turn 7 and the Copse corner, Charles Leclerc missed the ideal apex point and for the moment modulated the throttle around 40 percent. In the final corner of the lap, the car displayed some instability; however, the Monegasque driver was able to maintain control without losing time. Shortly after, he communicated to his engineers a request to increase the front downforce by six clicks.
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, reported difficulties in the last two corners of the Silverstone Circuit, where he was unable to fully exploit the car’s potential performance. A technical detail worth noting concerns Charles Leclerc, who at Copse corner avoided engaging eighth gear in order to keep the engine revs higher, while approaching the high-speed Becketts complex, he downshifted one gear to maintain better control of the racing line. Lewis Hamilton appeared to be struggling more in managing his laps and extracting consistent performance.
By the end of his stint, Lewis Hamilton seemed to be experiencing greater difficulties compared to his teammate Charles Leclerc, particularly with managing the rear axle of the SF-25. Unlike Charles, Lewis’s car exhibited less stability through the more technically demanding sections of the Silverstone Circuit, suggesting that the current mechanical and aerodynamic setup did not help him find the ideal balance during medium to high-speed corners.
Up to this point, traction had been generally satisfactory, although there were noticeable difficulties in locking onto the precise apex point, requiring more steering corrections than usual to achieve the correct rotation of the car. In high-speed corners, the car’s balance appeared well distributed; however, it will be essential to later analyze minimum cornering speeds to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the car’s dynamic behavior.
Lewis Hamilton Takes the Lead
It was then time to switch to Soft compound tires: both Ferrari SF-25 cars re-entered the circuit on the C4 tire compound, easily recognizable by the red sidewall markings. The tire warm-up phase was critical in order to fully exploit the extra grip and adhesion offered by this softer and faster tire compound. Behind the wheel, small steering adjustments were noticeable, designed to assist the car’s rotation in the medium and low-speed sections of the track, indicating a slight deficiency in rotation, although the overall behavior of the car was improving compared to earlier runs.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was hindered by traffic on track, which compromised the cleanliness of his flying lap. Lewis Hamilton initially seemed to struggle to find the right feel and connection with the Ferrari SF-25 and was unable to fully interpret its behavior. Nevertheless, he managed to set the fastest first sector time of the session before easing off slightly. After a cooling lap, Lewis Hamilton launched another attack and delivered a clean flying lap that placed his Ferrari at the top of the timing charts.
In the meantime, Charles Leclerc returned to the pit lane to request an aerodynamic adjustment to increase the front downforce in order to seek a more effective balance for the remaining phases of the session. While pushing hard to find the limit of the car’s handling capabilities, the Monegasque driver committed a few small errors in managing the car’s behavior.
During his penultimate attempt, Charles Leclerc misjudged the approach to turn 3, braking too late and forcing himself to cancel the lap. The final attempt ended with an excursion off the track in the last sector of the circuit. It was a real shame because an analysis of the sector times suggested that he had the potential to set a competitive lap time. Both Ferrari SF-25 cars then returned to the garage for a review of telemetry data in preparation for the final phase of the first free practice session.
Lewis Hamilton’s Impressive Race Pace
Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to leave the pit lane at the start of the race pace simulation run, followed by Charles Leclerc three minutes later. The Ferrari engineers chose to dedicate this part of the session to simulating race pace conditions, running the cars with heavy fuel loads to replicate race conditions. To maximize the amount of data collected, the team diversified tire choices: the SF-25 car number 16 ran on Soft tires, while car number 44 used Medium tires. The plan was for a seven-lap consecutive run.
Initial timing feedback was encouraging, especially considering that at Silverstone the weight of the car has a significant impact on overall performance. Additionally, the engine maps used were quite conservative, not geared toward delivering maximum power output in order to preserve the power unit’s reliability. During the long run, Lewis Hamilton reported slight understeer over the radio, an aspect that is not ideal on a fast and flowing circuit like Silverstone. Charles Leclerc, on his part, faced some traction difficulties, particularly in the slower corners, where some instability was evident.
Looking at the overall picture, the Ferrari SF-25 started the British Grand Prix weekend with positive signals. While the car is not yet perfectly balanced, it shows a solid and promising foundation to build on moving forward. It is only Friday and just the first free practice session, but the potential expressed by both Ferrari drivers strongly suggests that Ferrari can aspire to play a leading role at Silverstone, provided that they continue making improvements across all performance areas.
Lewis Hamilton appears particularly motivated and confident at the beginning of this race weekend, setting the best single-lap time and demonstrating the strongest pace in the short race simulation. Clearly, the situation will become clearer during the second free practice session, especially during longer runs, but the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion seems determined to fight for at least a podium finish, which would represent his first of the 2025 season, and he aims to achieve it at his home race here at Silverstone.
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