F1 rumor: Ferrari forced to make SF-25 changes to avoid disqualification in Australia. Ferrari forced to modify the setup in Australia, otherwise....

Ferrari delivered a rather disappointing result in the first qualifying session of the 2025 Formula 1 season, failing to go beyond the fourth row for the Australian Grand Prix.

Both Charles Leclerc (7th) and Lewis Hamilton (8th) struggled significantly with the car’s balance, particularly in the decisive moment—Q3.

However, the underwhelming performance of the Scuderia might have a far from obvious explanation…

Ferrari forced to modify the setup, otherwise…
Friday of the first race weekend of the year was positive for Ferrari, but Saturday saw a clear step backward. What could have caused this?

According to Charles Leclerc, the Maranello team “made changes to the SF-25 knowing that some speed would be lost in qualifying,” although he did not expect such a large gap to rivals, especially McLaren. The concerning part, however, is that—according to paddock rumors—these changes were necessary to avoid disqualification at the end of the Melbourne weekend. Essentially, the Italian side is said to have increased the ride height to prevent excessive wear on the plank (the wooden board on the floor) and thus avoid disqualification, as happened in the 2023 United States Grand Prix.

Moreover, this setup modification would have narrowed the car’s optimal operating window, catching engineers off guard in terms of balance, as reported by the Italian website formula1.it

In short, the Scuderia has undoubtedly disappointed expectations in the first weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season. However, it is by no means certain that the SF-25’s competitiveness will remain as seen in Melbourne for the rest of the championship. All that remains is to wait and see what happens in tomorrow’s race.