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 monitor the place winter testing came about. Since then, there have been three races—on road circuits, quick tracks, and technical layouts. Briefly, all potential situations have been lined: a various and helpful combine to get a transparent image of the pecking order. A damaging 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 monitor have been disappointing for the Prancing Horse, and the Japanese GP confirmed past affordable doubt that the anticipated top-level efficiency is at the moment 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 upset 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, Crimson Bull, and Mercedes (regardless of Leclerc’s try to make up for it). And to make issues worse, it’s a automobile that’s onerous to grasp and function. That is an unacceptable state of affairs for a crew with championship ambitions, one Ferrari should exit as quickly as potential—by persevering with to fine-tune the automobile (to unlock unexpressed potential) and accelerating growth to widen its working window and enhance its efficiency. Updates, significantly to the ground and different areas, are anticipated as quickly as subsequent weekend in Sakhir.
Fred Vasseur, between rumors and stress: 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 complicated image and is working to recuperate—one thing Leo Turrini commented on in his weblog “Profondo Rosso”, particularly in mild of latest statements by Ferrari crew principal Fréd Vasseur. The Frenchman admitted that Bahrain presents an opportunity to measure progress since testing, in addition to a possibility to take steps ahead in optimizing the automobile’s steadiness and managing each element of the weekend.
“The Sakhir occasion has, bitterly, the flavour of yet one more last examination. I gained’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. Somewhat, if you understand how to learn between the strains, what’s attention-grabbing is the message despatched to the world by the nation parish priest. Fred Vasseur—no use denying it—resides by way of probably the most delicate second since changing Mattia Binotto. And he is aware of it completely effectively.”