Ferrari need to make significant changes to their 2025 Formula 1 car if they want to return to the level of competitiveness they were at last season.
The Italian outfit are enduring a miserable season so far by their standards and sit fourth in the constructors’ championship after six rounds.
It has been one of the worst starts to a season in Lewis Hamilton’s career, while teammate Charles Leclerc has struggled too.
For a team that finished just 14 points off a title last year, Ferrari are in terrible form and must make adjustments unless they want to abandon the 2025 Formula 1 season already.
Ferrari have harmed Hamilton and Leclerc with sacrifices which have impacted their speed over one lap, making their jobs even tougher on a Sunday.
Fortunately, it appears that Ferrari are bringing ‘instant’ upgrades to their car, but they have to be effective immediately or fighting for either title will be over.
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Rob Smedley tells Ferrari that ‘big change’ is required at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Rob Smedley is an ex-Ferrari engineer, renowned for his work with Felipe Massa in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
He knows all about the pressure of the Tifosi and a title fight. It will be ramped up when Formula 1 returns to Europe for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this week.
Smedley sees no reason why Ferrari will jump up the pecking order without some amazing upgrades. He expects small gains from them.
“This is probably not going to make the Tifosi happy, but I see no reason why [they would be competitive] unless they bring a different package,” he said.
We’ve had six races up to now, [we] pretty much know where the Ferrari is now. Why do we expect something significantly different because they’re on home turf?
“I know that they are bringing updates, all the team are bringing upgrades to a great or lesser extent. Maybe they can make some small inroads, but I certainly wouldn’t expect there to be any big change from the status quo we’ve seen in those first races.”
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Why have Ferrari lost so much pace during the 2025 Formula 1 season
Ferrari took a gamble with their 2025 F1 car, and it has backfired on them. One may ask whether it was necessary to change so many components on a successful car?
However, with a risk-free shot to take ahead of the 2026 F1 regulations, they went all-in and it just hasn’t paid off so far.
There will come a stage where their entire attention turns to next year if they continue to perform poorly, but that may end up being an advantage to them.
It feels like a waste of Lewis Hamilton’s first campaign with them, but they understand that there will need to be sacrifices made for them to get to the front again.
There’s a small chance that the car is good, but just hasn’t had its potential unlocked yet. The next set of upgrades should help unlock any extra performance, if it exists.
