Ferrari had hopes, but nothing has changed in Formula 1. The technical directive TD018 concerning flexible wings has essentially left things as they were. The Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona essentially delivered this verdict, one on which pretty much everyone agreed. The Italian team believed that some benefits could emerge, as the new aeroelasticity coefficient imposed by the International Federation was meant to limit the performance of the impressive McLaren MCL39 car.
On the other hand, McLaren had no doubts. At the Thursday press conference in Catalonia, the Woking team appeared very confident. The drivers’ statements left no room for doubt. The reason is quite simple: the team had already carried out all the necessary studies in the preceding months, gathering reliable data from tests conducted in the factory. Team principal Andrea Stella, of the reigning world champions, spoke about this.
The former Ferrari race engineer of Fernando Alonso wanted full clarity on this matter. For this reason, Lando Norris had already tested the new specification during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend at the Imola circuit in order to comply with the new rules on front wing flexibility. On track, no difference was noticed, to the point that Andrea Stella, imagining the specification being installed without Lando Norris’s knowledge, was convinced the Briton would not have noticed any change in performance.
The impact was described as negligible, as the association of the numbers extracted from the analysis fully confirmed this. The differences were far too small to think they could alter the balance on the track. The value of disparity between the two components was very close to zero. The long planning of this directive allowed the teams to calmly study the situation regarding the cars’ characteristics.
Andrea Stella “explained” his team’s predictive capabilities. The impact of the new rules regarding aeroelasticity was deemed irrelevant. The track confirmed this, with the two McLaren cars essentially maintaining dominance, easily beating the rest of the competition. We observed various modifications on both the front and rear specifications as the slightly less “damped” contribution of the wings slightly altered the handling of the cars.
The lack of rotation became more evident in technical sections, while in high-speed corners oversteer became more dominant. The Ferrari engineers and technicians, as we know, took the opportunity to introduce a new specification, significantly different in the configuration between the two upper flaps and the endplate. More outwash effect with a sophisticated solution in Mercedes style, which the German team had already adopted last season.
The Maranello team has been studying the data collected in Spain over the past few days. Back in Maranello, both main drivers were present: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. The latter will continue pushing like his teammate, contributing to the development and refinement work on the SF-25. However, in his case, he believes that thinking ahead to 2026 would be the right move, reflecting on Ferrari’s current state.
As we had anticipated months ago in a dedicated article, cars already more problematic in terms of balance would encounter more difficulties. Confirmation of what we wrote at the time comes directly from Andrea Stella and from what we candidly observed on track. It was plausible that this would happen, and so it did.
And once again it sadly seems that Ferrari lacks sufficient technical expertise. The Maranello team was convinced that things could change significantly in terms of performance. We have said and repeated this several times. A fact that is, in some ways, inexplicable, since theoretically, the historic team should have the same tools at its disposal as McLaren. Ferrari, too, should have known that such differences would be rather negligible.
It remains to be understood, therefore, how Frédéric Vasseur and company could have imagined a different outcome. Preparation in Formula 1 is everything. Knowing the technical projects inside out and being able to evaluate them thoroughly is the key to achieving one’s goals. The fact that Ferrari failed to foresee the potential results, unlike the impressive McLaren, highlights and explains the technical delay the Red team is still paying for.
Considering Ferrari’s desire to close the gap to the front-runners, one must ask whether it has the expertise to achieve this goal. Frédéric Vasseur even spoke of three months to complete this work. We are therefore talking about September, by which time the Woking team will no doubt have already sealed both world titles. Perhaps this is also why Lewis Hamilton is advising to start thinking about the project for the 2026 Formula 1 championship.
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