Ferrari registered their best Grand Prix results of the 2025 Formula 1 season so far in Bahrain as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton sealed fourth and fifth-place finishes.
It has been a tough start to the season for the Scuderia, with Hamilton particularly struggling since his switch from Mercedes to Ferrari. The SF-25 has failed to meet the Maranello crew’s expectations, to leave the pride of Italy sat 94 points behind McLaren after only four rounds.
Ferrari took a raft of upgrades to Bahrain to try and unlock more of their car’s potential, and enjoyed great results largely thanks to Leclerc. The Monegasque set the third-fastest time in Q3 and was a real threat for a top-two finish before the safety car derailed Ferrari’s strategy.
Still, Leclerc matching his P4 from Japan plus Hamilton enjoying his best Grand Prix result as a Ferrari driver yet in P5 in Bahrain proved their upgrades – particularly their revised floor –worked. Ferrari even unveiled a new rear wing, diffuser and cooling parts at the Bahrain GP.
Ferrari realise their hard tyre problems despite their successful Bahrain Grand Prix upgrades
But, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, Ferrari left the Bahrain GP realising their problems on the hard Pirelli tyres is the next issue they ‘have to deal with’ after the race proved that their upgrades had worked. The SF-25 was more predictable and also behaved in a linear manner.
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There had been signs at the Japanese GP that the SF-25 did not like using the hardest of the three tyre compounds that Pirelli provide at each race. Yet those issues increased in Bahrain as Leclerc failed to match the speed that George Russell set with soft tyres on his Mercedes.
Leclerc should have been able to maintain a stronger pace using C1 tyres (the hardest of the Pirelli range), yet Russell pulled away on C3 tyres after the safety car interruption. So, Ferrari realise they must implement a fix to compete throughout a full Grand Prix on various tracks.
Pirelli’s Saudi Arabian, Miami and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix tyre picks give Ferrari time to find a fix
Pirelli took the C1 tyres to the Japanese GP for the compound’s debut in the 2025 F1 season before also using the tyres at the Bahrain GP – where Ferrari would realise the full extent of their problems with the hardest compound of the entire tyre range in use for this campaign.
Potentially fortunately for the Scuderia, Pirelli has not selected the C1 tyres for this week as the C3, C4 and C5 compounds will be used for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Pirelli will also use those tyres for the Miami GP plus the C4, C5 and the new C6 for the Emilia Romagna GP.
So, Ferrari have plenty of time to work on fixes for their problems on the hardest compound of the 2025 Pirelli F1 tyre range that the Bahrain GP highlighted, even despite the success of the Sakhir upgrades. Ferrari race at home at Imola for the Emilia Romagna GP on May 16-18.
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