FIA just made Ferrari blow 50% of their development budget to make Lewis Hamilton’s car slower

Lewis Hamilton is still chasing his first Grand Prix podium as a Ferrari driver ahead of the 2025 Canadian GP, and the FIA might have now made his challenge even greater.

Hopes were high when the Briton moved to Maranello at the start of this year. But Hamilton is losing faith that his Ferrari career will start to look like a success in the 2025 F1 season. He is just sixth in the F1 drivers’ standings ahead of Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix on 71 points.

Even his ex-Mercedes teammate George Russell has scored 111 points since the 40-year-old left the Silver Arrows for the Scuderia. His British compatriot has also penned four podiums, including P2 in Bahrain, while Hamilton’s best Grand Prix result for Ferrari yet is P4 at Imola.

FIA’s flexi-front wing clampdown cost Ferrari 50% of their development budget to go 0.1s slower

Ferrari’s team principal Fred Vasseur hoped the FIA’s new flexible front wing tests could be a game-changer and help catch McLaren. The FIA imposed stricter static load tests from the Spanish Grand Prix with the amount of vertical deflection allowed cut from 15mm to 10mm.

But AutoRacer now reports that Ferrari discovered after studying the data they collected at the Spanish GP that their 2025 car is actually one-tenth of a second a lap slower on average with their new front wing. Yet Hamilton and Charles Leclerc offered positive feedback on it.

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Ferrari have also effectively reverted to the stiffness of the front wing that Leclerc and Carlos Sainz used at the 2024 United States Grand Prix last October. But it also took eight months and even used 50% of the budget that Ferrari allocated for front wing development in 2025.

The Scuderia invested a lot to limit the effects of the FIA’s stricter flexi-front wing rules, with an improved outwash slightly offsetting the loss of efficiency caused owing to the increased stiffness. Ferrari also see this week’s Canadian GP as another chance to test the full impact.

Ferrari’s new front wing making the SF-25 slower will fuel Lewis Hamilton’s calls to focus on the 2026 F1 regulations

Vasseur had high hopes for the FIA’s flexi-wing clampdown flipping Ferrari’s year on its head. Yet it was not a game-changer, as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris sealed a McLaren one-two ahead of Leclerc and put their lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ standings at 197 points.

The mood in Maranello also now only continues to get worse, as only Vasseur still has belief in Ferrari’s 2025 F1 car. The Scuderia’s mechanics no longer believe this term can be saved, so many have joined Hamilton calling for Ferrari to focus on the 2026 F1 regulations instead.

If Ferrari’s upcoming upgrades also fail to reduce the pride of Italy’s deficit to McLaren, then Hamilton’s wish may get granted. Ferrari are finalising a rear suspension upgrade they hope will solve the Briton’s lack of confidence in the SF-25 due to their car’s unpredictable nature.