Ferrari’s deputy team principal, Jerome D’Ambrosio, explained to the media present in Bahrain the new features introduced on Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s car. A round in the Middle East that will be crucial for the championship, especially given the expectations ahead of the season. The updates made to the floor of the SF-25 were thoroughly explained by D’Ambrosio, and Ferrari had been working on them for a long time to bring them to the Bahrain GP.
“In general, we want to add downforce while still maintaining drivability,” D’Ambrosio explained. “That said, we don’t want to completely revolutionize the performance picture, we just want to improve step by step. This is extremely important because every hundredth gained is a step forward, and that’s what we’re aiming for. No revolution, just marginal and consistent gains on the car.”
Ferrari’s work will continue, as expected, in the second session, with the engineers in Maranello and Bahrain conducting further comparative work. A series of tests between simulator, flow viz, and drivers’ feedback will be fundamental.
In the first session, the work was entrusted to Beganovic and Hamilton, who tested the new specification without pushing it to the limit. A constraint imposed by the high temperatures and the dirty track, which wiped out grip on the surface.
“We want to add performance without revolutionizing what we have because the window we’re working in is good. At the moment, we don’t need to fix a specific area or adjust anything in particular, we just need to maximize what we have to improve the balance by adding downforce. Only then will we be able to move forward.”
D’Ambrosio preaches calm with a view to 2026
The 2025 season, as expected, will be considered a transitional one, given the major regulatory change coming in 2026. With the championship potentially still within reach, given the number of races remaining and the possible effectiveness of the updates, Ferrari is balancing its efforts between 2025 and 2026.
“We haven’t set a moment in the season when we’ll put aside the SF-25 to focus on the next regulations. It will be a decision we’ll make later based on certain criteria. When the call comes, we’ll see, but for now it’s not enough yet.”
Leave a Reply