How Monza brought out Ferrari’s fundamental limitations with its 2025 F1 car

For the various followers who flocked to the grandstands, able to help the Prancing Horse, the actual shock of the Monza weekend was sadly not Ferrari, however Pink Bull. For Ferrari, it was a bitter blow; the Method 1 Italian Grand Prix represented considered one of its finest alternatives to beat the dominant McLaren.

This was not the case. Monza, the place aerodynamic effectivity typically guidelines the day, underlined Ferrari’s limitations which have persevered by a lot of the season, even on a beneficial observe. Hopes of a primary win of the season have been successfully extinguished on Saturday, in a qualifying session through which the SF-25 lacked the line-leading tempo.

To hope for something greater than fourth and sixth place, it could want a shock accident on Sunday. The drivers attacked within the first a part of the race to facilitate that however, with few  variables of which to take benefit, hopes quickly pale.

The grand prix turned out to be surprisingly linear and devoid of twists and turns, much more so than the groups themselves had anticipated. These components that had fuelled uncertainty final 12 months, and which might have helped Ferrari, vanished. It in the end uncovered the areas on which the SF-25 is missing in comparison with its rivals, significantly on aerodynamic load.

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That is an space that has relegated Ferrari to the position of ‘additional’ in a grand prix that it could dearly have liked to compete in as a protagonist. The indicators had already emerged in qualifying, however within the race, with out the help of the additional grip offered by the brand new mushy tyre, the shortcomings of the SF-25 turned much more evident. 

Actually, within the early levels of the race the 2 drivers pushed on, contributing to the tyres overheating at a fragile time of their life cycle. This required a couple of laps to re-establish the stability, however this was relative, because it didn’t have an effect on consumption an excessive amount of, and degradation proved minimal.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, George Russell, Mercedes

Photograph by: Andy Hone/ LAT Photographs by way of Getty Photographs

In his post-race evaluation, Fred Vasseur spoke of a “final tenth” lacking within the direct comparability with the McLaren. On a dry lap, this evaluation is legitimate, though the brand new mushy tyre did in truth masks some shortcomings to supply grip to an especially unloaded automobile. Within the race, nevertheless, the situation turned out to be way more complicated and much faraway from the image. It culminated in a state of affairs the place, on the Temple of Velocity, Ferrari simply did not have sufficient of it.

Analysing the race from lap 20 onwards, after probably the most essential part associated to tyre thermal administration, it turns into clear the place the SF-25 misplaced floor to McLaren and Pink Bull: within the corners. Particularly, within the quickest and most technical sections comparable to Ascari and Parabolica, the place stability is essential, the Ferrari lagged at occasions by as a lot as 10-11km/h (6-7mph).

The big pace benefit on the straights, as much as 6-7 km/h on the MCL39 and 3-4 km/h on the RB21, was not sufficient to compensate for the time misplaced within the corners, translating into a mean hole of round two and a half tenths per lap in comparison with Piastri and over 4 from Verstappen, a minimum of till the primary pitstop.

It wasn’t all unhealthy; it was this slower cornering pace that allowed the SF-25 to place much less stress on the tyres, favouring a gradual strategy in tempo within the last stint, till reaching efficiency comparable with its rivals.

Carrying much less pace into corners, the SF-25 generated much less pressure on the tyres, an element that labored in its favour within the center levels of the race. It was at that time, as Verstappen admitted, that the Dutchman started to really feel the consequences of some degradation after pushing for over 30 laps. Ferrari skilled the same state of affairs in Jeddah: time misplaced in site visitors had mitigated the tyre consumption, once more on a observe characterised by low degradation and very clean asphalt.

The selection of Ferrari to deal with an especially unloaded set-up is comprehensible: it represents a technical ‘all-in’, to which even Pink Bull ended up adapting to make the distinction by following the identical route as Ferrari. Betting every thing on a sure space was the one actual strategy to beat an all-rounder like McLaren’s MCL39. However at that time, the essential challenge remained the aerodynamic load generated by the underbody and physique.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photograph by: Marco Bertorello / AFP by way of Getty Photographs

Trying again over the season, the RB21 has proven constant superiority in very high-speed corners, due to a stability and cargo stage that the SF-25 has by no means been in a position to match and what the drivers have reported so typically on. It is a limitation that had already emerged in different rounds, and at Monza turned much more evident and detrimental – and couldn’t be compensated for by loading the wings, given the chance of dropping effectivity and its biggest power. 

After all, it is true that every single-seater has its personal aerodynamic mapping, with traits that decide its effectivity primarily based on load and cornering. McLaren tends to be extra environment friendly and carry out higher with the wings loaded, whereas for Pink Bull it is the alternative.

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There have been respectable expectations that the decrease load on the rear might generate extra sliding and, consequently, extra tyre degradation. In actuality, the low consumption recorded enormously mitigated the issue, neutralising one of many MCL39’s strengths, rear-end dealing with. This was an sudden facet impact, which levelled out efficiency and made considered one of its finest weapons much less decisive.

This situation allowed the rivals to push with out worry, particularly within the preliminary part, exhibiting all the prevalence of their aerodynamic load. Ferrari wished Monza to be the stage for redemption, however as an alternative it become a trustworthy mirror of the boundaries of the SF-25’s design.