TECH CORNER: What does Ferrari target with its new suspension layout?

Ferrari are set to run their highly anticipated new rear suspension at next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix following a short test running at its own circuit in Mugello. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo explains what Ferrari aims to achieve with its crucial in-season upgrade.

Ferrari have endured a difficult start to their season in 2025. Following a promising performance in the second half of the 2024 campaign, the Scuderia had been expected to be in contention for the championship titles.

However, the Italian team struggled to fight for the podium places at the beginning of the season, having failed to match the performance levels dictated by the field-leading McLaren outfit. In fact, Red Bull and Mercedes also clearly looked a step ahead of Ferrari.

The Maranello-based team quickly realized its technical issues. However, the Italian squad has been so far unable to resolve the longstanding issues related to controlling the car’s ride height and platform stability.

It was already apparent during the Bahrain pre-season testing when Charles Lelcerc and Lewis Hamilton struggled to maintain the same line in the same corner on consequent laps.

The issues then worsened at the second race of the season at Shanghai when both Leclerc and Hamilton were disqualified. The seven-time world champion lost his race result due to excessive wear on the underfloor plank of his SF-25.

During the first part of the season, Ferrari’s SF-25 has excelled in high-speed corners, produced encouraging top speeds, was strong over the high kerbs, but it failed to match the traction of its rival cars.

The latter was particularly apparent at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit where Leclerc and Hamilton lost around three tenths of a second at the exit of the slow Turn 2. Interestingly, the issue is more apparent in low-fuel configuration while it becomes less of an issue in high-fuel mode.

Considering this issue, it is not surprising that Ferrari refused to produce upgrades at a fast rate in the opening stages of the season as the team was eager to find the root cause of the problem before introducing any solutions.

The technical department led by former Mercedes man Loic Serra had planned two key upgrades for the middle part of the season which might be Ferrari’s last significant development given the fact that the 2026 F1 season will see Formula One introduce an all-new technical regulation.

The first step was a heavily-upgraded floor that the Scuderia revealed at the Austrian Grand Prix.

This marked the third time Ferrari showed off a new floor in 2025. The Scuderia made tweaks to the initial floor design at Bahrain. Since then, the Maranello-based outfit brought only subtle aerodynamic changes to the SF-25, with the most significant upgrades having been a brake duct design and a new front wing at Imola and Barcelona respectively.

Regarding the latest floor design, the most visible change centered around the floor fences. The fence profiles have been redistributed, with the outer fence having received a completely new shape.

Although it was less visible, the floor body has also gone through a complete revision. Ferrari explained that the floor body has received a reshaped boat and tunnel expansion.

At the back end of the floor, the diffuser has also been tweaked. The Scuderia noted that the area where the underfloor airflow expands the most, has been redesigned and now features a different diffuser volume.

In addition, the floor edge has also been redesigned. The front section of the floor edge wing has been re-cambered and is now shorter than the previous version.

The Scuderia did not bring any upgrades to Silverstone, but it is expected to debut a heavily redesigned rear suspension configuration at next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Given the volume of the development, the Maranello-based outfit was eager to try out the new solution before it hits the track at Spa-Francorchamps.

In recent seasons, teams were usually reluctant to make mechanical tweaks to the suspension of their cars during the season given the tight nature of the F1 calendar and the lack of in-season testing opportunities.

However, Mercedes also made significant changes to the rear suspension of its car this year, introducing the upgrade in two steps. The Brackley-based outfit tried out the new solution during the Friday’s free practice sessions at Imola, but it waited until the Canadian Grand Prix to use it in race conditions.

As for Ferrari, the Italian team hosted a two-day test programme at its own track in Mugello. The opening day of the test saw Zhou Guanyu, Antonio Fuoco and Antonio Giovinazzi drive the two-year-old SF-23.

The second day saw Leclerc and Hamilton pilot the modified SF-25 that featured a new suspension layout. The Monegasque drove the car in the morning before the Briton took over the driving duties in the afternoon.

The focus of the 200km of running was to gather information and to get an early feel for rear suspension modifications that the team has been working on for several months.

Ferrari were permitted to use the SF-25 under the guise of a filming day. Article 10.4 of the Sporting Regulations stated that teams might carry out a maximum of two days of running for “purely for marketing or promotional purposes.”

These promotional events must not exceed 200km and only one may be carried out per team per day. During these runs, cars must be fitted with the FIA ECU required by Article 8.3 of the Technical Regulations. In addition, only tyres manufactured specifically for this purpose by the appointed tyre supplier may be used.

Ferrari have already used one day of promotional event in February, which means that the Scuderia has now used up its entire allocation for the current season.

The aim of the test at the Tuscan track was to collect data on the new suspension and to find the setup the team can extract the most from the SF-25 regarding the aero-mechanical interaction of the new setup.

Leclerc racked up a total of 19 laps in the morning before Hamilton completed the same distance with the new design that features a reworked wishbone mounting point to the gearbox.

Ferrari hope that the refined rear suspension will improve the ride height management to reduce squat and improve ground clearance control, enhancing the SF-25’s aerodynamic efficiency.

Teams are required to submit visible changes to the cars ahead of each race weekend, but they do not need to reveal any changes that are hidden. It means that Ferrari might not share any details about the mechanical changes when they submit the upgrades at next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

However, the images by Andrea Galante shows that the Scuderia has also carried out aerodynamic tweaks to the rear suspension as the repositioned arms affect the fluid dynamics.

F1previous