Ferrari are bringing an upgrade to this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in the hope of ending their podium drought. The Scuderia are fourth in the constructors’ championship after a disappointing start.
Lewis Hamilton may have won the Sprint race at the Chinese GP, but aside from that, Ferrari haven’t come close to meeting the pre-season hype. Hamilton’s win was only worth eight points – the equivalent of P6 in a Grand Prix.
Hamilton will trial a new floor in FP1, with rookie Dino Beganovic getting an opportunity in Charles Leclerc’s car. Ferrari will hope they can run their SF-25 lower to the ground, boosting downforce levels, without risking another disqualification.
Hamilton was thrown out of the Sunday race in Shanghai because he had excessive wear on the skid block. Ferrari raised the car for Suzuka to ensure compliance, but that cost them lap time.
Fred Vasseur won’t talk about shifting Ferrari resources to 2026
Speaking on ESPN’s Unlapped podcast, journalist Laurence Edmondson emphasised the importance of the upgrade. Ferrari may be inclined to ‘cut their losses’ if they can’t find a solution to their ride-height issue.
The 2026 F1 regulation changes are some of the largest in the sport’s recent history. Long-term, it may be more sensible to prioritise next year, particularly if a championship this season starts to look unrealistic.
Equally, persisting with 2025 development at the expense of next year could have lasting repercussions. Team principal Fred Vasseur openly addressed this dilemma in the off-season when Ferrari expected to be around the same level as McLaren.
But now that they’re a few tenths behind the reigning champions, it’s become a ‘sensitive’ subject. Ferrari aren’t yet ready to write the year off, but there will be growing calls to do so unless they can make a meaningful improvement.
“In having to lift that [the car], it seems they’ve lost a bit more performance, taken it out of its happy place,” Edmondson said.
“If they can’t find a solution to that, you also have to look at this season and, at what point do you just say ‘cut the losses, it’s going to be a bad year, we’re too far off in the championship to do much, it would be great to get a Grand Prix victory at some point, but actually the bigger deal here is 2026 onwards’.
“If you go into that and you’re off the pace, then that could take years to set right. I wonder if there will be a cutoff point. Fred was asked about this at the start of the year and I think he said ‘we will consider that’.
“He’s now stopped answering that question. It’s become a little bit more sensitive as to when you actually think ‘right, championship’s not on this year, what are we really going to gain by continuing to develop this car, let’s shift all our focus to next year’.”
Privately, Ferrari have set a date when they may give up on 2025
Based on the early ‘whispers’, Mercedes may have the best engine for 2026. The revamped power units will run on sustainable fuel and a far larger, more effective battery.
Hamilton joined the Silver Arrows in 2013, a year before the turbo/hybrid era began. They won every single constructors’ title before the shift to ground-effect aerodynamics saw them fall behind Red Bull.
Now there’s a possibility that Mercedes could get the jump on their rivals again, but this time Hamilton will suffer rather than benefit. Should that scenario come to pass, regret could creep in.
But rush judgements should be avoided. Ferrari are waiting until next month to see if they can unlock more performance, and if they haven’t made real progress, Vasseur could pull the trigger and go all-in on 2026.
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