Ferrari arrive at the 2025 Barcelona Grand Prix buoyed by their strongest result of the season so far, following a productive outing on the streets of Monte Carlo where Charles Leclerc secured second place and Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in fifth. The result marked just the second podium appearance of the year for the Maranello-based team, with the Monegasque driver improving on his third-place finish earlier in Saudi Arabia.
For Lewis Hamilton, the performance in Monte Carlo capped off a period of steady progress. While he has yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Prix since his high-profile switch from Mercedes to Ferrari, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion has shown glimpses of growing confidence in the SF-25. Prior to Monaco, the Briton claimed a season-best fourth place at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and matched that qualifying position in the Principality, though he was ultimately hit with a grid penalty after his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, was found to have provided inaccurate information.
Optimism is cautiously growing within the Ferrari camp ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Hopes are pinned on the FIA’s new clampdown on front wing flexibility, with the team anticipating that the regulatory change could compromise the performance of McLaren—a direct rival in the battle for podiums and points. Since January, all ten teams have been developing new front wing designs to comply with the updated aerodynamic restrictions coming into effect this weekend in Montmelo.
However, despite Ferrari’s optimism regarding potential gains from the revised regulations, there are mounting concerns about the SF-25’s ability to handle the high-downforce demands of the Barcelona circuit. The layout of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is notoriously aero-dependent, and this characteristic may expose existing flaws in the current iteration of Ferrari’s challenger.
According to a report by monthly motor racing magazine Motor Sport Magazine, Ferrari’s SF-25 is expected to revert to its problematic tendencies during the Spanish GP weekend. The technical publication noted that the strong form shown by Charles Leclerc in Monaco may have been more an exception than the start of a consistent trend. In Monte Carlo, the Monegasque driver led every practice session and narrowly missed out on pole position by just 0.109 seconds to McLaren’s Lando Norris. Yet the aerodynamic efficiency required in Barcelona could once again highlight the limitations of Ferrari’s 2025 car concept.
The issues facing Ferrari may persist until the team is able to introduce a major rear suspension upgrade currently under development in Maranello. The team has acknowledged that these handling issues—particularly those impacting front-end confidence—are hindering Lewis Hamilton, who continues to struggle with extracting performance from the SF-25 in its current configuration.
Ferrari are placing significant strategic importance on the upcoming rear suspension upgrade, which is scheduled to debut at the Austrian Grand Prix from June 27–29. Internal sources suggest that if the revised suspension package fails to deliver the expected performance boost, the Scuderia may consider shifting their development focus away from 2025 altogether. In the meantime, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will have to persevere with the existing setup, as the tight turnaround before the Canadian Grand Prix on June 13–15 has made it unlikely that the new components will be ready in time.
Instead, Ferrari aim to introduce the update during the double-header in Austria and Great Britain, two events that could prove pivotal for their championship campaign. Team principal Fred Vasseur is said to be feeling the pressure to make this upgrade count, particularly after Ferrari’s unsuccessful attempt to lure Red Bull team boss Christian Horner to replace him earlier this year. The coming races could prove decisive not only for Ferrari’s competitiveness in the 2025 season but also for the stability of leadership within the team.
As the Formula 1 grid prepares for a crucial phase of the season, Ferrari find themselves at a crossroads—hoping that aerodynamic regulations and technical upgrades will finally bring out the true potential of the SF-25 single-seater and put them back in contention with the front-running teams.
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