The F1 2025 season is nearing its end. McLaren is on top and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is pulling off miracles with the RB21. But in light of all these amazing events, it remains dark at Ferrari. Despite signing Lewis Hamilton to team up with Charles Leclerc, the team has had a disappointing season by its standards.
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The rest of this article will examine the root causes of Ferrari’s woes and what awaits the team in 2026. Let’s get going!
They Fixed the Wrong Thing
Before the season started, Ferrari had a decision to make. You see, their car screamed perfection in simulations. However, for some reason, it didn’t replicate its simulated performance on the race track. This left them at a crossroads: improve the aerodynamics (how air flows in and out of the car) or focus on other vehicle dynamics such as the suspension.
The team’s technical director, Loïc Serra, chose the latter instead of pursuing already planned aerodynamic updates. Serra asserted that working on dynamics such as the rear suspension would allow the car’s aerodynamics to work as expected.
As such, they began work. For three months, the team’s technical team focused on this development route. Did this bring the desired result? Not really. While the car became more stable, it became stubborn. So, while it was fast on the race track, a change in conditions would see it struggle to adapt. This remained the case even when the setup was tweaked.
The Cost of Missed Opportunities
The time spent on the suspension could’ve been used to bring at least two aerodynamic updates to life. Some engineers within the team believe that if they’d taken this route, the car would suit the driver’s needs.
The Azerbaijan GP brought Ferrari’s struggles to light. While Hamilton and Leclerc topped the charts during practice, the team experienced drawbacks during qualifying. And at the race’s conclusion, both drivers finished in 8th and 9th place, respectively. What resembled the team communication breaking down was actually something wrong with the car: it failed to adapt when conditions changed.
By the next race in Singapore, Ferrari had still failed to resolve its issues. They tried some setup tweaks towards the end of qualifying, and it still didn’t work.
Leclerc got so frustrated that he said: “I’ve been completely unable to feel the car over the last two weekends, and what’s weird is that it has been on street circuits where I typically am rather confident. We need to work and understand what’s wrong, because I’m not at the level where I should be, and we’re losing points.”
Cracks Are Showing Up Within the Team
The frustrations at Ferrari are beginning to show at every level. After the team’s double DNF at the Brazilian GP, John Elkann, Ferrari team president made a statement that shocked the F1 world.
In his words, “We definitely have drivers who need to focus on driving and talk less because we still have important races ahead of us and getting second place is not impossible.”
He went further to imply the Ferrari F1 team wasn’t united, basically saying that unity propelled them to winning the World Endurance Championship held in Bahrain.
The team’s drivers aren’t happy either. Leclerc is blunt about his frustrations when it comes to his frustrations at the car.
Hamilton, a seven-time world champion has also made his reservations known, with this statement suggesting that he’s fed up with the team and probably himself: “It’s me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless. The team have no problem. You’ve seen the car’s on pole.”
Looking Towards 2026
Despite the doses of frustration that Ferrari has had to bear in the 2025 season, there’s hope that 2026 will be the year where the team returns to where it belongs — the top!
Charles Leclerc had already set his eyes on this year, stating that: “I really hope we can start a new era. It’s been too long since Ferrari has been at the top, and I want that moment to come with me at the wheel.”
While Charles looks towards 2026, some reports suggest that there’s a chance the Monegasque driver might be looking elsewhere if Ferrari’s problems linger till next year. However, many F1 analysts assert that this won’t be the case. They opine that next year’s car, codenamed the “678”, will represent a fresh start with an already approved design and chassis. And with the suspension revolution that adopts push-rod layouts for the front and rear for 2026, expectations are high.
This structure was last used in the F10 (Ferrari’s car for the 2010 season) that Fernando Alonso used to finish second in the standings. With the 2026 regs bringing cars closer in terms of competition, Ferrari’s team principal, Fred Vasseur, believes that the team will exploit loopholes that’ll see them racing into the distance before other teams catch up. Exciting times ahead? Only time will tell.
The article was provided by Evelyn Balyton
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