Inside Ferrari’s Austin setup secret that could bring success in F1 Mexico City GP. Ferrari’s technical gamble in Austin transformed a difficult weekend into a double top-four finish.

Ferrari surprised everyone at the Austin Grand Prix, turning a difficult Friday into a weekend to remember. What initially looked like another uphill battle ended with a podium and a strong fourth place — a result that could signal a real turning point for the Scuderia as it heads to Mexico, and possibly beyond.

The 2025 United States Grand Prix marked a powerful comeback for Ferrari, bringing back smiles to the Maranello garage. After an extremely challenging start to the weekend, the Italian team managed to transform what seemed a lost cause into one of their strongest performances of the season — a third and fourth place finish achieved through technical courage and flawless teamwork.

Free practice sessions had shown an SF-25 struggling badly for grip and balance. Charles Leclerc was forced to stop due to a transmission failure, while the car as a whole appeared off the pace. The Sprint qualifying session only made matters worse, with Lewis Hamilton qualifying eighth and Leclerc tenth — both nearly a full second behind the front runners. It looked like Ferrari was heading for another tough weekend.

A podium that could pave the way for victory in Mexico?

The turnaround came during Saturday’s Sprint Race, where Ferrari suddenly appeared far more competitive. Admittedly, the eliminations of four cars ahead of the Scuderia — Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hülkenberg and Fernando Alonso — helped the comeback, but the race pace, particularly during the green-flag stints, was genuinely impressive. Data collected by Matteo Togninalli and his track engineering team showed that Ferrari’s tyre management was among the best on the grid.

The key to this revival lay in a bold technical adjustment. According to insights from Franco Nugnes, after the parc fermé reopened, Ferrari decided to take a risk by lowering the ride height of the SF-25. The team had originally been overly cautious, fearing damage to the floor on Austin’s notoriously bumpy and water-deformed asphalt. While Red Bull and McLaren opted to raise their cars to protect the plank from excessive wear, Ferrari went the opposite direction — choosing performance over caution. The result was a car that gained both downforce and straight-line speed.

A daring setup and a perfect strategy

The outcome of that gamble was impressive: the SF-25 proved stable, responsive, and fast. In qualifying, Charles Leclerc missed out on a front-row start by just six thousandths of a second behind Lando Norris — a gap that seemed unthinkable only a day earlier. Ferrari’s pit wall executed the strategy with precision, timing the runs perfectly to ensure clean preparation laps and optimal tyre temperatures.

During the race, Charles Leclerc took full advantage of the soft tyre compound at the start to overtake Lando Norris and immediately insert himself among the leading group. Only in the final laps, when the softs began to degrade, was the British driver able to reclaim second place. Nonetheless, Charles Leclerc’s drive was clean, consistent, and strategically mature — proof of the steady progress Ferrari has made.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was slightly less comfortable with the car’s aggressive setup but still managed to secure a valuable fourth place, finishing ahead of Oscar Piastri. The double top-four result marked a major step forward for the Scuderia and a significant morale boost for everyone in Maranello.

Confidence restored and eyes on Mexico

This result confirms the strength of the work carried out under team principal Frédéric Vasseur, who continues to have the full support of Ferrari chairman John Elkann. After several difficult weeks, the team demonstrated tangible progress in both performance and technical reactivity — something that will be crucial for the next phase of the season.

Now, attention turns to the Mexico Grand Prix, held at an altitude of over 2,200 meters. The thinner air could present fresh challenges but also new opportunities for the SF-25, which has proven its ability to adapt and respond quickly to demanding conditions. It was in Mexico, exactly a year ago, that Ferrari last celebrated victory with Carlos Sainz — and the Maranello team is determined to make history repeat itself.