Ferrari is the only team that doesn’t have a technological outpost in Great Britain. Even Racing Bulls and Sauber, based respectively in Faenza and Hinwil, have or are planning to set up a base in the United Kingdom.
The team led by Laurent Mekies is building a new headquarters for the aerodynamics department (and more) in Milton Keynes, while Mattia Binotto is opening the Sauber Motorsport Technology Centre UK to bring together about twenty engineers who will later be transferred to Switzerland.
After the Canadian Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg reportedly advised the Prancing Horse team to establish a base in the United Kingdom, suggesting that Ferrari’s level of excellence did not match that of the British teams, particularly Mercedes, and adding that aspects such as marketing and other areas were stronger elsewhere. He is said to have claimed that the culture and the team’s Italian location made things more difficult.
The words of the 2016 world champion opened a debate on whether the Scuderia should establish a presence in the land of Albion to hope to return to winning ways, reviving the memory of the John Barnard era when Ferrari opened the FDD in Guildford. That experiment turned out to be a real disaster.
Ferrari is a top team in every respect: it has cutting-edge technical facilities. The wind tunnel was upgraded last year during the summer break to improve the yaw analysis of the model, and the simulator is considered one of the most advanced in the sport, as is the CFD structure. More generally, its facilities, like the dynamic benches, have nothing to envy compared to the best competitors.
So the structure itself is not in question: with the SF-24, the team came within 14 points of winning the Constructors’ title last year. The SF-25 revolution was supposed to bring the red car a double title in the final championship under ground effect regulations.
But Ferrari simply got the car wrong: it was born with low aerodynamic load compared to rivals and with a serious problem, to express its full potential, the red car would have to run at such a low ride height that it would nearly scrape the track surface, risking excessive plank wear beyond what the regulations allow, just like what happened to Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese GP.
The 2025 car was designed with the aim of giving aerodynamicists greater development freedom throughout the season. Instead, the design constraints have limited the car’s evolution, and the response times are proving slow—too slow compared to the growth of other top teams: McLaren, Red Bull, and now even Mercedes have won GPs. Only the Italian side remains winless and so far has had to settle for the minor race in Shanghai.
The Maranello team is awaiting the new floor and the long-awaited rear suspension like manna from heaven, but the doubt is whether these solutions can widen the tyre operating window without delivering major performance leaps. Frederic Vasseur has already made it clear that we’re nearing the end of a regulatory cycle and that improvements will come in hundredths, not tenths.
Ferrari suffers from an organization that doesn’t match the pace of its rivals: the change in front wing inspections was supposed to benefit the red team. Yet, despite the less flexible wings, the hierarchy hasn’t changed, and the SF-25 remains behind. It’s up to the French team principal to set a direction for the team: last year, after a difficult start, the recovery produced excellent results, while now they are trying to extract potential from a car that only shines in certain conditions, delaying the introduction of aerodynamic upgrades.
The drivers are calling for updates, and Lewis Hamilton in particular is advising to shift focus to the 2026 Formula 1 project, not expressing much optimism about what’s to come. The problem is we are not even halfway through the season: can Ferrari afford half a season adrift while waiting for reinforcements? Frederic Vasseur has his fate in his own hands: this is no longer the time to delay…
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