2025 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[atanatizante]

I don't know how reliable this rumor is, but the foulty item HAM talked about in the press conference after the Suzuka race seems to be the IBS inertial damping system:

" ... Another key point, in addition to understeer, SF25 has been struggling with a structural defect in the rear suspension since the beginning of the season, specifically in the inertial damping system known as IBS. This component is vital for controlling the chassis' vertical movements, which wasn't working as it should. The result is a bouncing car punishing the rear tires during acceleration and compromising traction in slow and medium speed corners, a problem affecting not only race pace but also the car's consistency lap after lap. And although from the outside it may seem that both drivers share the same car and therefore should perform equally, the technical reality is different. LEC has found a more stable setup, one that better suits his driving style. Meanwhile, Hamilton, who requires a more reactive front end and more aggressive corner entry, can't fully exploit his driver skills if the car doesn't respond as expected, hence the huge gap between the two in qualifying and the race despite having the same equipment ... "

[SoulPancake13]

As far as I understand the article, these are the components of the package:

• Floor, including diffuser area
• Rear wing central pillar
• Rear brake duct

That's more substantial than I was expecting if true.

Also, from Giuliana:

Suzuka was the GP of awareness: the SF-25 “limited” by the heights – talking about 3 mm of additional height. With this Ferrari lost on average 3-4 tenths to McLaren in just one winter. The set-up makes the SF-25 lose about 20pnt.

It was never Ferrari’s plan to bring new parts to Suzuka, the plan was always to introduce new parts to the R04 that were in the wind tunnel in February (before seeing track car’s problems).
A bigger package that Tondi's aerodynamics department is working on has not yet been officially decided when it might debut.

Info clearly tells us that the development of the SF-25 remains a priority at least until next month.

so because of ride Hight issue they lost 3 to 4 tenths in winter? I dint get that part.

According to Donadoni from AutoRacer, the simulation says that they should have been right there with McLaren - no more than a tenth off. However, the issue in the rear is causing them to raise the floor by 3mm which is losing them 3-4 tenths.

[SoulPancake13]

I don't know how reliable this rumor is, but the foulty item HAM talked about in the press conference after the Suzuka race seems to be the IBS inertial damping system:

" ... Another key point, in addition to understeer, SF25 has been struggling with a structural defect in the rear suspension since the beginning of the season, specifically in the inertial damping system known as IBS. This component is vital for controlling the chassis' vertical movements, which wasn't working as it should. The result is a bouncing car punishing the rear tires during acceleration and compromising traction in slow and medium speed corners, a problem affecting not only race pace but also the car's consistency lap after lap. And although from the outside it may seem that both drivers share the same car and therefore should perform equally, the technical reality is different. LEC has found a more stable setup, one that better suits his driving style. Meanwhile, Hamilton, who requires a more reactive front end and more aggressive corner entry, can't fully exploit his driver skills if the car doesn't respond as expected, hence the huge gap between the two in qualifying and the race despite having the same equipment ... "

Who is the source on this?

[Luscion]

As far as I understand the article, these are the components of the package:

• Floor, including diffuser area
• Rear wing central pillar
• Rear brake duct

That's more substantial than I was expecting if true.

Also, from Giuliana:

Suzuka was the GP of awareness: the SF-25 “limited” by the heights – talking about 3 mm of additional height. With this Ferrari lost on average 3-4 tenths to McLaren in just one winter. The set-up makes the SF-25 lose about 20pnt.

It was never Ferrari’s plan to bring new parts to Suzuka, the plan was always to introduce new parts to the R04 that were in the wind tunnel in February (before seeing track car’s problems).
A bigger package that Tondi's aerodynamics department is working on has not yet been officially decided when it might debut.

Info clearly tells us that the development of the SF-25 remains a priority at least until next month.

so because of ride Hight issue they lost 3 to 4 tenths in winter? I dint get that part.

According to Donadoni from AutoRacer, the simulation says that they should have been right there with McLaren - no more than a tenth off. However, the issue in the rear is causing them to raise the floor by 3mm which is losing them 3-4 tenths.

thats promising if the upgrades work as they hope and they can get the car to work at or close to the heights they would like and improve handling

[K1Plus]

so because of ride Hight issue they lost 3 to 4 tenths in winter? I dint get that part.

According to Donadoni from AutoRacer, the simulation says that they should have been right there with McLaren - no more than a tenth off. However, the issue in the rear is causing them to raise the floor by 3mm which is losing them 3-4 tenths.

thats promising if the upgrades work as they hope and they can get the car to work at or close to the heights they would like and improve handling

Essentially, this means the upgrade won't add any new pace, but unlock the existing tenths that can't be used currently?

[SB15]

I don't know how reliable this rumor is, but the foulty item HAM talked about in the press conference after the Suzuka race seems to be the IBS inertial damping system:

" ... Another key point, in addition to understeer, SF25 has been struggling with a structural defect in the rear suspension since the beginning of the season, specifically in the inertial damping system known as IBS. This component is vital for controlling the chassis' vertical movements, which wasn't working as it should. The result is a bouncing car punishing the rear tires during acceleration and compromising traction in slow and medium speed corners, a problem affecting not only race pace but also the car's consistency lap after lap. And although from the outside it may seem that both drivers share the same car and therefore should perform equally, the technical reality is different. LEC has found a more stable setup, one that better suits his driving style. Meanwhile, Hamilton, who requires a more reactive front end and more aggressive corner entry, can't fully exploit his driver skills if the car doesn't respond as expected, hence the huge gap between the two in qualifying and the race despite having the same equipment ... "

Who is the source on this?

I don't know, but I knew in January of last year, that this would cause a lot of disagreements within the team.

[SoulPancake13]

I don't know how reliable this rumor is, but the foulty item HAM talked about in the press conference after the Suzuka race seems to be the IBS inertial damping system:

" ... Another key point, in addition to understeer, SF25 has been struggling with a structural defect in the rear suspension since the beginning of the season, specifically in the inertial damping system known as IBS. This component is vital for controlling the chassis' vertical movements, which wasn't working as it should. The result is a bouncing car punishing the rear tires during acceleration and compromising traction in slow and medium speed corners, a problem affecting not only race pace but also the car's consistency lap after lap. And although from the outside it may seem that both drivers share the same car and therefore should perform equally, the technical reality is different. LEC has found a more stable setup, one that better suits his driving style. Meanwhile, Hamilton, who requires a more reactive front end and more aggressive corner entry, can't fully exploit his driver skills if the car doesn't respond as expected, hence the huge gap between the two in qualifying and the race despite having the same equipment ... "

Who is the source on this?

I don't know, but I knew in January of last year, that this would cause a lot of disagreements within the team.

Without a source, I'm going to call bs to be honest. If it was just that component they probably could have fixed it by now.

[Dee]

I don't know how reliable this rumor is, but the foulty item HAM talked about in the press conference after the Suzuka race seems to be the IBS inertial damping system:

" And although from the outside it may seem that both drivers share the same car and therefore should perform equally, the technical reality is different.......hence the huge gap between the two in qualifying and the race despite having the same equipment "

This seems contradictory no?

They both have the same car technically, just that one driver has found a setup that works for him while the other hasn't found a way around the limitation?

[ScuderiaLeo]

Looks like the Italian media is once again trying to start drama by implying there's bad blood between the drivers or the team.

[Farnborough]

I can't see a problem with a difference, CL driving since inception of these rules with a fast-n-loose style seemingly untroubled even by early days when the car had a long wave lazy porpoising effect in 2022.

He seems quite different in some respect to LH in that aspect.

I'd be very surprised to here both cars were set as close to exactly the same for both. Don't feel its in any way fuel to demonstrate favour either way.

[deadhead]

LEC’s ability to deal with that porpoising issue is quite unique to be fair

[Luscion]

I can't see a problem with a difference, CL driving since inception of these rules with a fast-n-loose style seemingly untroubled even by early days when the car had a long wave lazy porpoising effect in 2022.

He seems quite different in some respect to LH in that aspect.

I'd be very surprised to here both cars were set as close to exactly the same for both. Don't feel its in any way fuel to demonstrate favour either way.

i dont think leo is talking about stuff specifically in here, maybe im wrong but saw on the reddit an italian article that got posted that got a lot of upvotes trying to manufacture drama in Ferrari between the drivers over the dumbest thing but got removed for low quality cause the source was basically a tabloid

There's differences for sure but it seems like their driving styles are quite similar, Charles said he was surprised just how similar it is and that they want the same thing from the car

[ScuderiaLeo]

i dont think leo is talking about stuff specifically in here, maybe im wrong but saw on the reddit an italian article that got posted that got a lot of upvotes trying to manufacture drama in Ferrari between the drivers over the dumbest thing but got removed for low quality cause the source was basically a tabloid

I'm not sure if I saw that article, but yes, I was referring to the general outpour of low quality articles from the Italian media over the past few days. Saying that Leclerc and Hamilton were upset with each other or the team, the team was forcing them to do certain setups when they didn't want to, other obviously untrue stuff like that... it's been so ridiculous I even saw it appear on Mexican news sites.

I do have my doubts about the reliability of article snippets posted here without a source. There are very few journalists who have even a semi-reliable track record with leaks in the Vasseur era.

"The drivers want to use different setups" is such a nonissue, it's baffling that fans and the media would pounce on it as being some big deal...

[Dee]

Could it just be that Hamilton is not comfortable with the rear?

https://racer.com/2025/04/07/hamilton-h ... o-leclerc/
"Through the first three races, there’s been a bit of a deficit between both sides of the garage on an element of the car, so on my side, something [is] underperforming. So, it’s good to know, with what I had, that’s the best results.”

https://as.com/motor/formula_1/hamilton ... hatgpt.com
"Something is not working on my side of the garage. The rear end is quite different to Charles's"

This was what Charles said after Japan;

“I learned a lot from the car, that's the positive. Friday was a good day after working on several ideas we'd had for a few weeks, and they worked out. I'm very happy with that.”

As for driving style, Charles said they are similar in how they attack the entries;
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... hatgpt.com

"We both like to push quite a lot, especially the entries, and on that we are quite similar"

But what about rear stability?

Charles likes a sharp front and can deal with a shaky rear.

As far as I know about Hamilton, he likes a responsive front and a stable rear.

"Lewis Hamilton has generally been known to prefer a car with a stable rear. Over the years, he has often mentioned how important rear-end stability is for his driving style, as it helps him feel more confident and maintain better control, especially during high-speed corners and braking zones. This preference allows him to push the car to its limits while maintaining consistency and precision in his driving.

Hamilton's driving style is typically focused on car balance, and a stable rear end gives him the confidence to attack corners aggressively, while also maintaining tire management and braking performance. This aspect of his setup preference has been consistent throughout his career, whether with McLaren, Mercedes, or now Ferrari, and has often been a factor he discusses when he experiences challenges with car performance"

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lewi ... /10710468/

So what I am getting at is;

Maybe there is no difference between the cars, maybe it's just that Hamilton is not comfortable with the rear and the new update might solve this by making it more stable..

Maybe he believe's that the cars are different because of the way Charles is able to handle the instability (able to hide it with his driving) ...

The Ferrari is not the Mercedes, Hamilton is having to drive it in a different way ...

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-ham ... hatgpt.com
"Honestly, the car felt so much different to what I've ever experienced...It just requires a different way of driving it, so adjusting my driving style bit by bit." ​

Maybe he is adjusting his style to an unstable rear and at the moment, that is all there is too it ...

[deadhead]

A responsive front and a stable rear would be the perfect racing car no?

I’m going to guess that LEC would also prefer a strong front and a stable rear over a strong front and a loose rear…