From Bahrain to Bahrain. This weekend, F1 is about to come back full circle, holding the fourth Grand Prix of 2025 in Bahrain, on the identical observe the place winter testing occurred. Since then, there have been three races—on avenue circuits, quick tracks, and technical layouts. Briefly, all doable circumstances have been lined: a assorted and helpful combine to get a transparent image of the pecking order. A unfavourable image for Ferrari which, after three race weekends, has clearly proven it’s removed from quick, nowhere close to the front-runners, nor in rivalry for poles or victories. Quite the opposite, the SF-25 fluctuates between being the third or fourth-best automobile on the grid. There’s no use beating across the bush: after the winter hype, the much-anticipated solutions from the observe have been disappointing for the Prancing Horse, and the Japanese GP confirmed past affordable doubt that the anticipated top-level efficiency is presently out of Ferrari’s attain.
A lot work to do…
The SF-25 struggles and has proven a weak correlation between simulations and on-track efficiency. In Suzuka, as in Melbourne and Shanghai, Ferrari disillusioned as soon as once more, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton ending fourth and seventh in Mie, coping with a automobile that’s inconsistent however above all uncompetitive in numerous situations—considerably slower than McLaren, Purple Bull, and Mercedes (regardless of Leclerc’s try and make up for it). And to make issues worse, it’s a automobile that’s arduous to know and function. That is an unacceptable state of affairs for a staff with championship ambitions, one Ferrari should exit as quickly as doable—by persevering with to fine-tune the automobile (to unlock unexpressed potential) and accelerating improvement to widen its working window and enhance its efficiency. Updates, notably to the ground and different areas, are anticipated as quickly as subsequent weekend in Sakhir.
Fred Vasseur, between rumors and strain: Leo Turrini speaks
It is a second of nice disappointment and dismay for Ferrari, which is struggling to come back to phrases with this unexpectedly advanced image and is working to recuperate—one thing Leo Turrini commented on in his weblog “Profondo Rosso”, particularly in gentle of current statements by Ferrari staff principal Fréd Vasseur. The Frenchman admitted that Bahrain gives an opportunity to measure progress since testing, in addition to a chance to take steps ahead in optimizing the automobile’s stability and managing each element of the weekend.
“The Sakhir occasion has, bitterly, the flavour of yet one more remaining examination. I received’t dwell on the industrial-scale amount of rumors circulating behind the scenes: whether or not true or not, they’re the results of a frankly embarrassing begin to the season. Reasonably, if you know the way to learn between the traces, what’s fascinating is the message despatched to the world by the nation parish priest. Fred Vasseur—no use denying it—resides by way of essentially the most delicate second since changing Mattia Binotto. And he is aware of it completely nicely.”