It has been reported in the Italian media that Ferrari has an upgraded floor ready to bolt onto the SF-25.

But, after it was claimed that this new floor would arrive for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, a new report speaks of split opinions within Ferrari over whether this is the right call.

Ferrari floor upgrade: Bahrain the place to unleash it?

And with the race weekend fast approaching, the final call will be made by Ferrari on Thursday over whether to run this new SF-25 floor in Bahrain, as per a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ferrari has endured a challenging start to the F1 2025 campaign, as while Lewis Hamilton led from lights to flag to win the China Sprint, in Grand Prix action, Charles Leclerc’s P4 finish last time out in Japan serves as their best result so far this season.

Italian publication Formula Uno cited a ‘lack of balance and pure performance’ with the SF-25, and have thus reported that a new floor is on its way for Bahrain, one designed to engineer better stability and balance in the Ferrari challenger, opening up its working window.

It is stated that Ferrari also want to move the car’s centre of pressure forward with improving rotation through corners in mind, the SF-25 suffering from understeer in the early stages of F1 2025.

Ferrari’s proposed upgraded floor apparently has been designed to generate more efficient downforce at the ride heights which the team have to work with at present, as it is claimed that should the team go lower, then they run the risk of skid block wear becoming an issue once again, that being the grounds for Lewis Hamilton’s Chinese Grand Prix disqualification.

But, La Gazzetta dello Sport’s take casts doubt over the status of this new Ferrari floor for Bahrain, the publication claiming that Ferrari’s aerodynamics department are happy that introducing it would be a positive step for the race weekend, but team principal Fred Vasseur and technical director Loic Serra want to hang fire.

Stating that the floor is part of a larger upgrade package to be introduced two rounds after Bahrain in Miami, the report adds that Vasseur and Serra want the SF-25’s balance stabilising before such an aerodynamics change is made, so that its effectiveness could then be properly assessed.

And with Ferrari to come to a decision as a team on Thursday, Friday practice could then set the stage for a comparison between the current floor and potential new one, it is proposed.

F1 2025 head-to-head standings

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

Did Lewis Hamilton hint on Ferrari upgrade plans?

While Leclerc crossed the line a season-best P4 for Ferrari in Japan, Hamilton managed seventh only, though he did achieve the distinction of being the only driver in the top 10 to change position from the grid to chequered flag, having passed Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar.

And speaking after the race, Hamilton potentially made reference to Ferrari’s Bahrain GP upgrade plans when he spoke of an “underperforming” part on his SF-25.

“I’m happy I moved forwards,” he reflected.

“I’m really hoping in the next race we’ll see, hopefully, some positive changes. Through the first three races, there’s been a bit of a deficit between both sides of the garage, on an element of the car, so on my side, something underperforming.

“So it’s good to know. I mean, with what I had, that’s the best result I could get.

“My pace, I think considering, as I said, I was maximum today. I didn’t have anything else in the car.

“We’ve got underperformance happening at the rear of the car this weekend, and obviously qualifying position is key.

“I think I probably would have been overtaken by the Mercedes if I was any further ahead, and I’m hoping the next race, we can somehow get a bit closer.”

Asked to expand on his Bahrain GP chances after those comments, Hamilton added: “It’s definitely going to be interesting, for sure. I just hope we’re a little bit closer.

“I think we’re probably the fourth fastest, clearly, at the moment, and I think we are a little bit off the other guys in terms of performance downforce level wise, so we’ve got some work to do to close the gap.

“We will slowly progress the car. It’ll be interesting to see when people get upgrades over the season.

“We’ve got a lot of work to be able to close the gap into the top cars, the top guys. They’ve probably got three or four tenths on us, so we’ve got a lot of work to bring upgrades for that.”

Speaking further on this apparent underperforming SF-25 element, Hamilton added to Sky F1: “I’m really hoping when that’s fixed, I’ll start getting a bit better results.”

Ferrari sit P4 in the F1 2025 Constructors’ standings, already 76 points behind leaders and reigning champions McLaren, the team which Ferrari battled with all the way to the final round in Abu Dhabi over the 2024 crown.

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