The ‘unexpected and unpredictable behaviour’ of the Ferrari SF-25 in Bahrain testing has reportedly hurt Charles Leclerc’s confidence ahead of the F1 2025 season opener.

Despite finishing just 14 points away from winning last season’s Constructors’ title, Ferrari have introduced what team principal Fred Vasseur describes as a “completely new” car for the final year of the current regulations in F1 2025.

Fresh concerns emerge over ‘unpredictable’ Ferrari SF-25

The SF-25 has seen Ferrari embrace a number of design changes – including a move to a pullrod front suspension layout, long favoured by rivals McLaren and Red Bull – as the team aggressively target a first World Championship of any kind since 2008.

Although the team have high hopes for the car – previously known only as Project 677 – the car seemed to underwhelm at last week’s pre-season test in Bahrain.

PlanetF1.com’s best guess over the initial F1 2025 pecking order – based on conversations with teams up and down the paddock as well as impressions from watching trackside – currently sees Ferrari as the fourth-best team behind McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes entering next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

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A report by the Italian edition of Motorsport.com has shed light on the frantic work occurring behind the scenes at Maranello, with ‘nothing left to chance’ ahead of the F1 2025 curtain raiser.

It is said that technical director Loic Serra and his team ‘are looking for the right setup adjustments’ to find the right balance and unlock the true pace of the SF-25 car after the pullrod front suspension proved problematic in Bahrain.

The lack of refinement in this area of the car is said to have resulted in ‘unexpected and unpredictable behaviour’ in Bahrain, sapping Leclerc’s confidence in his new machinery.

With less downforce at the rear compared to its predecessor, the car’s balance has shifted from the oversteer setup favoured by Leclerc to understeer.

Hamilton’s view on the matter is unknown with the seven-time World Champion still speaking glowingly about the team and the car in public ahead of his first season as a Ferrari driver.

Although it is believed that the unseasonably low temperatures in Bahrain may have contributed to the car’s poor balance, Ferrari are hoping to find ‘the crux of the matter’ in time for the Australian GP amid fears that the SF-25 is slower than the McLaren MCL39 and the ‘reborn’ Mercedes W16 on race pace.

The general consensus within the team is that Ferrari have lost ground to McLaren over the winter, with both Mercedes and Red Bull closer to the Scuderia than they ended 2024.

With Ferrari introducing so many changes to the F1 2025 car, it remains to be seen whether the team will have more scope for development than their rivals as the season develops.

Gaining a full understanding of the pullrod suspension, a concept reintroduced by Ferrari for the first time since 2015, appears to be crucial to extracting the full potential from the SF-25.

A pullrod front suspension is believed to bring a major aerodynamic advantage by increasing airflow towards the car’s complex underbody, with the floor generating a significant proportion of the car’s overall downforce in the ground-effect era.

The influence of Serra in this area is expected to be key with the former Mercedes engineer thought to specialise in vehicle dynamics and components like torsion bars and shock absorbers.

It is hoped that finding the right adjustments from a mechanical perspective should not be a major issue.

There are no concerns over Ferrari’s engine, meanwhile, with the SF-25 never activating its most aggressive power modes or running with low fuel in Bahrain as the team opted against giving clues over their true performance to the opposition.

The clipping experienced by Hamilton and Leclerc at the end of some straights are also not a worry with the electronics crew working on how best to optimise the power delivery of the electrical ancillaries over the course of a lap.

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The latest concerns over the Ferrari SF-25 come after Alex Brundle, the racing driver and son of Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle, voiced worries over the car’s “really nasty” handling while studying the onboard footage of one of Hamilton’s laps in Bahrain.

Commentating during the afternoon session on the final day in Bahrain, Brundle said: “That Ferrari looks really difficult to drive this afternoon. I was watching it a little earlier on.

“Exit at Turn 4, entry at Turn 11, way wide. Through the mid corner of Turn 13 as well.

“Anywhere where it’s got its tail to the wind, Hamilton is really struggling to get it into the apex.

“This is going to be a better lap for him, but it doesn’t look happy. Big understeer through the mid corner [but] it’s probably one of the better corners of [Hamilton’s] lap.

“It looks really, really nasty behind the [wheel], whatever they’ve done to that Ferrari for Hamilton, whatever they’re testing.

“Of course, you take avenues that don’t always work, but that isn’t friendly.”

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