Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been working this week in Barcelona as they continued their Ferrari testing program ahead of the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Unfortunately, despite being on track alongside last season’s Constructors’ Championship winners McLaren, the data they’re gathering won’t be aiding the development of their 2025 car.
That’s because they’re both taking part in a Pirelli tyre test and the vast majority of the data is hidden from Ferrari and the drivers.
They don’t know what tyres they’re using and the setup Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are using on the 2024 car has been designed to more closely resemble how the car will look and feel next year.
That doesn’t mean Hamilton’s third different spell driving a Ferrari Formula 1 car is useless though, with Leclerc driving Ferrari’s 2023 car alongside the Brit’s tyre testing runs.
Even though he’s not driving this year’s car, he’s getting used to Ferrari’s procedures and processes and getting a feel for a new set of brakes and a completely new power unit.
Not only that, but Ferrari are making strides forward behind the scenes to try and go one better in the championship this year and win their first title since 2008.
It means team principal Frederic Vasseur is overlooking a major change to one area of the car that according to journalist Matteo Novembrini is likely to be a bit of a risk.
Ferrari taking ‘calculated risk’ by changing suspension on 2025 Formula 1 car
Novembrini was speaking on the Selezione Nazionale Piloti YouTube channel about Ferrari’s car development and said: “So on Ferrari in 2025, I add to what I said before and it is known with enough certainty that Ferrari will change a lot on the car, especially on the suspension level.
“It’s probably one of those things we were saying before, it’s a team looking for a leap, maybe even bigger than others, precisely because it seems that the top teams have come close in these regulations to the performance level.
“Therefore, Ferrari are trying to revolutionise part of the mechanical structure of the car, it is trying to make a leap that if it were to be successful, could make a difference.
“It is the only team that had a certain type of suspension last year.
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“So, maybe by updating itself in quotation marks, by keeping up to date with their competitors, it could make a difference.
“It’s an area where Ferrari’s opponents have less margin to try and create this change.
“The other side of the coin is that maybe it will take time to fix this other area as aerodynamic mechanics, and in this set of regulations, even with similar aerodynamics, it could take time.
“This is adding to what I expect from Ferrari in 2025 as they are probably taking a risk but maybe it will also be a calculated risk, we will see.”
Lewis Hamilton could be impacted by latest FIA rule change in 2025
Ferrari have recognised that if they can make a step forward in one area that their rivals have already optimised, then they could have the advantage going into this season.
However, an FIA rule change over front wings has upset Ferrari as they may be unfairly penalised compared to their rivals.
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The margins between each of the top teams this year are set to be minute, with hundreds of a second likely to separate the fastest drivers.
It means every advantage counts and if Ferrari can nail their new suspension – but are suddenly caught out by a changing front wing – then Hamilton and Leclerc might end up losing out by the barest of margins.
