Ferrari ‘concerned’ by what they’ve seen on McLaren’s F1 car, it’s a ‘mystery’ for the Scuderia

Ferrari are already 61 points behind McLaren in the F1 constructors’ standings after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s disqualifications from the Chinese Grand Prix.

Only 14 points ultimately split the Maranello and Woking outfits in last season’s standings as McLaren sealed their first F1 constructors’ championship since 1998. But Ferrari have a huge mountain to climb after just two events for the Scuderia to now dethrone their rival in 2025.

McLaren have been the clear class of the field at the start of their title defence, while Ferrari are fighting Red Bull and Mercedes to be the best of the rest. The pride of Italy even lurched from hope to disaster nearly day to day across the Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese GP.

McLaren’s front suspension set-up raises ‘concern’ at Ferrari after finding vast gains

Lando Norris winning the Australian GP from pole position and then Oscar Piastri converting his first pole to the win at the Chinese GP has also raised alarm bells at Ferrari. Norris heads the drivers’ standings on 44 points, with Hamilton only P9 on nine and Leclerc P10 on eight.

McLaren’s front suspension set-up has caused particular ‘concern’ with Ferrari, according to AutoRacer. It is a ‘mystery’ for the Scuderia just how their rivals from Woking have managed to find such gains by lowering the rear-most arms after Ferrari rejected a similar philosophy.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Ferrari explored incorporating an anti-dive front suspension set-up similar to McLaren’s with the SF-25 across recent months. But Maranello chiefs felt that suspension philosophy would yield more disadvantages than advantages, so it never saw the light of day on their 2025 car.

The Scuderia did alter their front suspension for Hamilton and Leclerc’s car as Ferrari moved from push to pull-rod suspension. Yet Ferrari did not go as extreme as McLaren, who elected to edge the mechanics of their revised set-up rearward for improved aerodynamic purposes.

Ferrari are not the only team to take notice of their rival’s set-up, either. Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Wache branded McLaren’s front suspension ‘very interesting’ but also ‘very risky’ at testing in Bahrain. Wache even questioned at the time if it would benefit McLaren.

Ferrari must rue rejecting McLaren’s suspension set-up after a miserable start to F1 2025

McLaren benefitting from their aggressive front suspension change to such an extent it has raised concern at Ferrari will only add to the Scuderia’s misery from the start to the season, especially given the Maranello crew opted against a similar set-up after months of thought.

Hope was on the horizon for Ferrari in Melbourne as Leclerc set the quickest lap time in FP2. But the 27-year-old would only qualify in P7 with Hamilton behind in P8. A possible P5 finish for Leclerc in the Australian GP then faded in the late rain and Ferrari settled for P8 and P10.

Progress then seemed likely in Shanghai as Hamilton won the F1 Sprint at the Chinese GP. But the wheels then fell off the wagon in the main race, as changes to Hamilton’s set-up saw the 40-year-old struggle for balance before Ferrari registered their first double DSQ in China.