Scuderia Ferrari has had a slow start to the F1 2025 season, and while the bulk of the year is left, they’re facing a critical fork in the road: Keep tweaking the SF-25, or fully focus on the incoming 2026 regulations.

At the moment, Ferrari still wants those 2025 gains — but if its next upgrade fails to bring results, then Ferrari is set to wave the white flag of surrender on its championship this year.

Ferrari ready imminent white flag on 2025 updates

After Scuderia Ferrari clocked its season-best finish at the Monaco Grand Prix — a second place for Charles Leclerc, a fifth for Lewis Hamilton — one could perhaps assume that the Italian team is sensing a turnaround.

But basing performance off a race as unrepresentative as Monaco would likely be a mistake. As things currently stand, Ferrari still sit second in the World Constructors’ Championship standings, but they’re 177 points in arrears of leader McLaren.

For the drivers themselves, that’s an 82-point gap between Leclerc and points leader Oscar Piastri, and 98 points for Hamilton.

With a major regulatory overhaul on the horizons for 2026, every team on the grid is carefully weighing up the best time to call it quits on 2025 development, with all focus being channeled instead into 2026.

Williams, for example, is already fully focused on chasing those early 2026 gains; other midfield teams may see a benefit in securing a better championship position this year to aid in off-season development funds.

But where does Ferrari stand in all of this?

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Australian publication Auto Action has revealed that Scuderia Ferrari has one more upgrade package lined up for its SF-25 — and if that doesn’t work, then the team will throw in the towel and start focusing on 2026.

Per the report, Ferrari are looking to introduce a near rear suspension package to the cars of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton some time in the next few races. Though the Scuderia hopes that package will be ready for Canada, they’ve pinpointed the Austrian Grand Prix as a more realistic debut date.

The upgrade is designed to target the “nervous” rear end of the car, which both Hamilton and Leclerc have pinpointed as being extremely problematic. The rear seems ready to let go in the middle of a corner, denying its drivers the confidence to race at their fullest.

Per Auto Action, Ferrari is looking to transform its rear pull-rod suspension in such a way that it will enable them to use a more “extreme mechanical set-up,” thus allowing them to lower the ride height and ideally improve downforce. That rear-end downforce should help stick the car to the ground and help the drivers find more confidence in their machines.

But that’s it for the team this year. It’ll be the Scuderia’s last update. This weekend, in Barcelona, we’ll see new wings designed to satisfy the FIA’s clampdown on flexi-wings. In a few weeks, we’ll see that rear suspension.

Should that suspension be lacking, Ferrari will give up on the SF-25 “immediately.” It won’t be able to afford putting off full focus on its development of 2026’s car any longer.

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