Ferrari will head to the 2025 season-opening Australian Grand Prix as one favourite for success as Lewis Hamilton registers his debut racing in red alongside Charles Leclerc.
The Scuderia enjoyed a strong pre-season test in Bahrain last week as Hamilton and Leclerc posted their first representative laps in the SF-25. Ferrari had already shaken their car down at Fiorano before heading to Sakhir, where their new machine proved it can be a challenger.
McLaren had the best car at F1 testing with the defending constructors’ champions believed to hold a slight edge over Ferrari, plus Red Bull and Mercedes. But the four front-runners are to contest what might be one of the closest Formula 1 seasons in many years this campaign.
Ferrari’s front suspension change can let Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc ‘exploit’ their 2025 F1 car’s potential
Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko thinks the pecking order is McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes after F1 testing in Bahrain. But the covers will only truly come off for qualifying at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix when teams lock in their cars for the first race.
Hamilton will also debut for Ferrari in Melbourne after his arrival from Mercedes to replace Carlos Sainz. The Scuderia have made some substantial changes to their car for the 2025 F1 season compared to what Sainz had in 2024, despite the huge regulation changes next year.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
The headline alteration between the SF-24 and SF-25 is the front suspension. For Hamilton’s first machine with the Prancing Horse on it, Ferrari switched from push-rod to pull-rod front suspension in 2025 – a change Fred Vasseur thinks was ‘essential’ to maximise the package.
“We did it to have a greater possibility of development,” Vasseur said, via quotes by Corriere della Sera. “But, more than that, it is essential to exploit the car on the track. It will be a long and close fight between four teams. The result of the first race will not count that much.”
Ferrari think their suspension change has helped to fix their rear downforce problems
Ferrari did not make wholesale changes to the SF-24, which won five Grands Prix with Sainz (2) and Leclerc (3) last season, when creating the SF-25. But some of the changes the team did make were big such as adopting pull-rod front suspension, which Vasseur feels was key.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend
The SF-24 was one of the fastest cars in low-speed corners last term yet struggled with rear downforce in high-speed turns. But Ferrari think they fixed their rear downforce issues with the SF-25 as the changes to Hamilton and Leclerc’s car can help control its front ride height.
Hamilton will hope the work Ferrari put in designing his first car with the Prancing Horse on it now pays off and Marko’s belief that the Scuderia head to the Australian GP as the third-best team proves incorrect. But, as Vasseur alludes, 2025 boasts 24 Grands Prix and six Sprints.
