Ferrari told they have done something ‘really damaging’ as F1 giants sent ‘fine margins’ warning

Ferrari have started the Japanese Grand Prix weekend on the back foot, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc unable to match the early pace of McLaren at Suzuka.

The Scuderia arrived in Japan to start the first triple-header of the 2025 F1 season needing a bounce-back performance in only round three. Ferrari are already 61 points behind reigning champions McLaren in the F1 constructors’ standings after missing out last year’s title by 14.

Ferrari’s deficit to McLaren may yet grow at the Japanese GP, as well, after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri set the pace in practice on Friday. Norris led the way in FP1 with a 1:28.549 lap, before slipping behind his teammate by 0.049 seconds in FP2 after Piastri posted a 1:28.114.

Leclerc and Hamilton set the third and fourth-fastest times in FP1 yet the Ferrari racers were 0.416s and 0.502s slower than Norris. Multiple interruptions including Jack Doohan crashing at 185mph in FP2 at Suzuka saw their gaps to Piastri sit at 0.472s and 0.430s in P7 and P4.

Alice Powell fears Ferrari’s Chinese GP disqualifications will hurt their F1 constructors’ title bid

Starting slowly in Japan will have been among the last things that the Scuderia wanted after Ferrari recorded their first-ever double disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton’s rear plank had suffered excessive wear in Shanghai while Leclerc’s car was 1kg underweight.

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Their disqualifications from P5 and P6 results after Hamilton won the Shanghai Sprint added to Leclerc’s frustration at Ferrari not maximising their potential in Australia and China. It can also add more issues, with Alice Powell fearing the impact on Ferrari’s constructors’ title bid.

“Looking at the disqualifications for the Ferraris in China, it’s such fine margins that teams face,” Powell noted on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. “A team like Ferrari making mistakes across two cars, that’s a lot of points dropped.

“In a season where it’s going to be so close at the sharp end of the field, that could be really damaging for Ferrari.”

Ferrari would be one point behind Red Bull without Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s Shanghai DSQs

Leclerc and Hamilton’s disqualifications from the Chinese GP denied Ferrari 18 points for the constructors’ championship. Those points would have placed the Scuderia into fourth above Williams, who like Ferrari scored 17 points across the first two rounds of the 2025 campaign.

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Ferrari would even only be a point behind Red Bull, but have less than half of the team from Milton Keynes’ tally as a result of their double DSQ in Shanghai. So, starting slowly at Suzuka will not improve the mood in the Scuderia garage with McLaren, again, atop the timesheets.

Engineers in Maranello also had some optimism for their performance at Suzuka after they tested around 20 options in their simulator. Ferrari planned suspension setting changes for Hamilton and Leclerc in Japan as they felt it could more of unlock the SF-25’s performance.