Frederic Vasseur made it clear that the SF-25 isn’t a revolution of its predecessor however moderately an evolution, primarily as a result of the small margins in final yr’s championship confirmed that it was pointless to fully change the automobile, however moderately to give attention to key areas.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t imply that Maranello’s newest creation doesn’t symbolize a transparent break from the earlier season’s automobile, as some modifications are extra vital than they could seem.
Though the SF-24 ended the yr on an upward trajectory and fought for the Constructors’ Championship title till the ultimate race, it had reached its peak evolution. As typically occurs, extra substantial adjustments have been wanted to unlock additional potential. Such interventions are typically postponed to the event of the next yr’s automobile, particularly in the event that they contain the chassis or vital modifications to the suspension system.
This was additionally the case for the SF-25 venture, whose growth, no less than in its embryonic section, started final March, effectively prematurely of the tip of final season. Nevertheless, it advanced in parallel with the 2024 single-seater to know which areas required essentially the most radical interventions to unlock extra efficiency in 2025.
The improvements open new growth paths
Talking on the sidelines of the filming day of the brand new automobile, throughout which the SF-25 accomplished its first kilometers, technical director Loic Serra emphasised this side and the way sure adjustments, even seemingly minor ones, have been made particularly to transcend the boundaries of its predecessor.
“The work on the SF-25 started in March of final yr, so by way of growth, it’s a development of the SF-24. It’s because I solely arrived at Ferrari in October when all the selections had already been made. However we should always not assume that every part was finalized as early as September as a result of this can be a steady course of that lasts all through your entire season,” Loic Serra defined in a latest interview for the Italian media after the official reveal of the brand new Ferrari Method 1 automobile for the 2025 championship.
“Normally, the strategy is to seek out room for enchancment in growth. All of this had grow to be not possible with the SF-24. We primarily wished to make sense of it by optimizing what we already had.”
“For the reason that technical rules have reached their ultimate yr, with these vehicles, every part relies on particulars. We targeted on the entrance suspension, however that’s solely essentially the most seen a part of the tip of the iceberg. Many of the automobile is new, and it’s not essentially one thing that may be seen with the bare eye from the skin, however these are exactly the elements which have the best affect,” added Loic Serra.
There are additionally many much less eye-catching however essential facets, such because the redesign of the gearbox and the modification of the wheelbase—adjustments that go hand in hand with quite a few interventions geared toward unlocking potential even within the medium-to-long time period. The change to the pull-rod format on the entrance is essentially the most simply noticeable innovation, however modifying the suspension format and repositioning the elements additionally means rethinking airflow administration alongside the bodywork, opening up new growth paths that had reached their restrict with the SF-24.
The event of the SF-25 was designed on two fronts
Ferrari’s engineers have subsequently labored on two fronts. Some interventions have been aimed extra at delivering speedy efficiency, in order that, no less than within the engineers’ hopes, the 2025 venture will be aggressive proper from the beginning of the yr with out having to chase rivals.
Different adjustments, alternatively, function a type of groundwork for the medium time period, anticipating the updates that can arrive within the early a part of the championship. “The primary goal with the SF-25 was to create room to push aerodynamic growth, but in addition, extra typically, for the updates that can come all through the season. The SF-24 ended the season very effectively, nevertheless it had grow to be not possible to seek out additional margin for efficiency enhancements.”
It’s not uncommon for sure winter modifications to be aimed extra at unlocking efficiency within the medium time period moderately than instantly, and it’s no coincidence that Frederic Vasseur has defined how this yr’s growth program will probably be versatile.
There will probably be a much less steep studying curve
Twelve months in the past, Ferrari was in a totally totally different state of affairs from the present one. In 2023, it determined to desert the idea that debuted with the F1-75, shifting in the direction of options utilized by its rivals, with a definitive transition to a distinct philosophy that materialized with the SF-24.
This clearly required a interval of understanding the venture to raised grasp its functioning, in addition to its strengths and limitations. Quite the opposite, though there are vital adjustments this yr, such because the change to the pull-rod suspension, the idea of the SF-25 has remained similar to that of its predecessor.
It will make the training curve much less steep than up to now: “Although the automobile has modified loads, it’s a continuation of its predecessor. We’ve modified many inner elements, however the philosophy stays the identical. We hope that the event margin will give us that additional increase in comparison with final yr.”
Particulars could make the distinction, beginning with the tires
Clearly, the Frenchman solely joined Ferrari as technical director final October, so many key venture choices have been truly made by different engineers. Nevertheless, this doesn’t imply that Serra can not contribute as early as 2025 and never only for 2026.
In his earlier experiences, Serra was thought-about a tire specialist, and this is among the areas the place Ferrari, like different groups, can nonetheless extract potential, notably in qualifying, the place final yr it struggled to get the tires into the precise working window.
In latest weeks, we’ve mentioned how some modifications adopted with the SF-25, notably within the suspension space, have been designed to deal with a few of the weaknesses of its predecessor. This isn’t simply concerning the entrance pull-rod suspension, which was chosen primarily for aerodynamic causes, however extra importantly concerning the inner elements that make it up, such because the torsion bars and dampers, in an effort to maximise the efficiency of the Pirelli tires.
The SF-24 was a automobile that was mild on its tires within the race, able to making them final a very long time, however to grow to be an all-around aggressive automobile, it wanted to make progress in single-lap efficiency by enhancing tire administration. Attaining this stability is actually not easy, nevertheless it was one of many key strengths of the McLaren MCL38. Among the adjustments on the SF-25 are aimed exactly on this route.
Loic Serra himself is satisfied that, as an skilled in automobile dynamics, there’s nonetheless loads to extract from the tires, particularly contemplating that with such a tightly packed grid, as is anticipated for many groups, each fraction of a second may make a big distinction in positioning and race prospects.
“If we take into consideration final yr’s grid, the automobile forward of us was about 30 milliseconds quicker. Primarily based on that, each single millisecond we are able to discover aerodynamically, within the suspension system, or, most significantly, in tire administration, actually makes an enormous distinction. In qualifying, the tires can provide extra.”
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