Fred Vasseur disagrees with Ferrari data that could fix Lewis Hamilton’s F1 car concerns at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Ferrari are in danger of their season unravelling before it’s even started after a sluggish beginning to the 2025 Formula 1 campaign.

Team principal Fred Vasseur has witnessed new star driver Lewis Hamilton go from winning a race to being disqualified in the space of 24 hours.

While Hamilton was always expected to take some time to get up to speed at Ferrari after his move from Mercedes, stalwart Charles Leclerc hasn’t been having the best time either.

The Monegasque driver was also excluded from the Chinese Grand Prix, and Leclerc hasn’t been happy with his Ferrari since the start of pre-season testing.

After three race weekends, Ferrari already have to make up a 76-point deficit to leaders McLaren in the constructors’ championship.

It’s unlikely for that gap to decrease going into the Bahrain Grand Prix, but plans are already being made at Ferrari’s factory in Maranello to try and improve the car going into the next race.

However, it turns out that Vasseur and his technical director, Loic Serra, don’t necessarily agree with the data they’ve seen.

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Fred Vasseur disagrees with Ferrari introducing new floor at the Bahrain Grand Prix

A report from the Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport has shared more details about the conundrum that Ferrari currently face.

Hamilton admitted that there was a deficit between his car and Leclerc’s in Japan, although it’s unclear whether he means in terms of the physical parts being used, or how their cars are set up.

During the race in China, the seven-time world champion was disqualified for excessive plank wear, and Hamilton notoriously likes to run his car as low as possible.

Ferrari have been discussing whether to bring a new floor to Bahrain, which might aid Hamilton’s feeling in the car if he’s forced to run slightly higher than he would like to avoid another disqualification.

The report from Gazetta suggests that the floor has already been produced and Ferrari’s aero department believes that it will be an ‘improvement’ based on the simulation data.

However, Vasseur and Serra are concerned that the SF-25’s balance needs to be addressed first before adding any new parts, with the floor expected to be one component associated with a much bigger update package that will arrive in Miami.

Vasseur disagrees with his technicians about installing the floor immediately, as he worried that any improvement would mask the more pressing issues that need to be fixed, and a deadline of Thursday has been decided on whether to go ahead with the change.

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Fred Vasseur should take a leaf out of Andrea Stella’s book on introducing updates

Last season, when Enrico Cardile was signed by Aston Martin, Vassuer took on some of his responsibilities as technical director before Serra fulfilled the role.

It means he has a greater understanding of the car’s setup than some team principals in the paddock, but going against Ferrari’s simulator data seems to be a risk, particularly when neither of his drivers are entirely happy with their cars.

Last season, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella delayed a floor update on their car as he was worried about the balance issues it could cause.

He had seen many of his rivals install updates that theoretically should have made the car faster, only for the data to not match real-life performance.

Vasseur’s trepidation is justified, as Ferrari botched an update package in Spain last year that potentially cost them the constructors’ championship.

The Scuderia may be on the back foot now, but they can’t afford to slip even further back at this stage of the campaign.