Ferrari’s brand-new rear wing has now been officially confirmed by the team. The renowned Italian racing team is approaching what is widely considered the most important race weekend of its entire 2025 Formula 1 season with a series of significant technical developments. This upcoming sprint race weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit will see Ferrari test its newly developed rear suspension system, an important technical upgrade aimed at delivering a substantial and decisive performance leap for the Ferrari SF-25 single-seater. Confidence in the extensive work carried out by the Maranello team’s engineers is clearly evident, although the overall atmosphere within the team remains one of “cautious optimism,” reflecting a balanced and prudent outlook. Ferrari will debut a completely new rear wing design along with a revised front wing, both meticulously engineered to perfectly adapt to the unique and demanding characteristics of the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.
The official statement released by Ferrari offers the usual general and somewhat generic communications, which is nothing particularly surprising or groundbreaking. The standard phrases about determination to do well, giving maximum effort, paying attention to every detail, and so forth, are likely crafted by the team’s communications department rather than coming directly from team principal Frederic Vasseur himself. However, it is evident that Frederic Vasseur fully understands the immense importance and potential impact of the technical changes that the team will introduce during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
First and foremost among the upgrades is the brand-new rear suspension system. The pull-rod rear suspension design has already been examined and tested during the private test session held at the Mugello circuit in Italy, where the Ferrari SF-25 was run with the team’s main race drivers—Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton—during the second and final filming day of the 2025 Formula 1 season. This on-track test was absolutely essential for gathering valuable real-world data, which was then extensively processed and analyzed in the days that followed through Ferrari’s sophisticated simulator facilities, utilizing advanced driver-in-the-loop simulation software. This carefully planned strategy was crucial in allowing the team to arrive in Belgium with a well-founded set of initial setup ideas and configurations already developed.
Indeed, beyond the early and largely positive feedback emerging from Ferrari’s technical headquarters in Maranello, having several basic aerodynamic and mechanical configurations available to develop and build upon throughout the race weekend was absolutely imperative, especially considering the unusual and challenging sprint race format introduced by Formula 1. With only one single practice session scheduled, lasting just sixty minutes, it remains an ongoing challenge for teams and drivers alike to effectively move from purely subjective driver feedback to objective validation and fine-tuning of the new components.
In addition to the important mechanical upgrades, Ferrari’s new rear wing design has now been officially confirmed, validating our previously exclusive reporting on this technical innovation. This brand-new aerodynamic specification could prove to be a decisive factor, not only at the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit but also later in the 2025 season at the historic Monza circuit, which similarly demands low-drag aerodynamic setups. The Ferrari engineering team faces a demanding challenge to successfully integrate all these updates and optimize the overall performance of the SF-25 racing car. It is hoped that the weather conditions during the race weekend will be favorable and stable, allowing the team to conduct its work without any interruptions or delays caused by rain or other adverse elements.
This new rear wing represents the fourth aerodynamic specification that the Ferrari team has brought to the track during the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship season. Earlier this year, we have already seen the medium-downforce version widely used at most of the Formula 1 events. Then came the introduction of a medium-high downforce variant, designed to cover a broader and more diverse range of racing circuits. Subsequently, a high-downforce version was developed and used specifically for the Monaco Grand Prix, a circuit that requires maximum aerodynamic grip.
For the Belgian Grand Prix, Ferrari is deploying its lowest-downforce rear wing setup of the season so far, opening new possibilities for aerodynamic and mechanical setup adjustments. This new approach aims to maximize efficiency and performance especially through the first and second sectors of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which demand high-speed stability and low drag. The middle sector of the track, however, requires a stronger vertical aerodynamic load to ensure optimal mechanical grip, and typically teams tend to increase the angle of attack on the rear wing to maximize downforce through that section.
Reducing rear downforce obviously requires a more effective contribution from the car’s floor and diffuser in terms of ground effect to compensate for the aerodynamic loss. The introduction and use of this new wing leads us to believe that Ferrari’s technical staff are increasingly confident they have finally discovered how to better exploit the ground effect downforce generated by the car’s floor and diffuser assembly. The team believes that this level of aerodynamic support is sufficient to reduce the drag caused by the rear wing, while still maintaining a solid and competitive amount of downforce at the rear axle.
This aerodynamic philosophy is reflected similarly in the new rear suspension design, which we will discuss in greater technical detail shortly. Specifically, the new rear wing shows modifications to the main wing profile, which now appears less loaded with a less pronounced “spoon-shaped” curvature. This alteration is consistent with Ferrari’s goal of concentrating aerodynamic load at the central section of the wing profile, much like what other leading Formula 1 teams are doing with similar types of aerodynamic elements.
The additional flap located on the rear wing has also undergone some important modifications and overall now exhibits a reduced baseline angle of incidence. Moreover, there is a cutout located at the mid-profile trailing edge of the wing, which is specifically designed to reduce aerodynamic drag and improve straight-line speed. Tomorrow, during the practice sessions and qualifying rounds, we will be able to assess whether this new rear wing configuration performs as effectively as Ferrari’s engineers and aerodynamicists anticipate it will, in line with the high expectations of the Prancing Horse team.
— see video above —
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