When asked about the pace difference compared to rivals, Lando Norris admitted that the qualifying gap in Australia left everyone stunned: “Our goal was pole position, but we expected Ferrari to be much closer than it was. In the end, they were seven or eight tenths behind, and that caught us by surprise.”

Ferrari disappointed in Australia, but Lando Norris still sees it as a threat

Analyzing the free practice data, Lando Norris noted that Ferrari appeared competitive, especially in Friday’s long runs. “To be honest, their race pace even seemed better than ours. This shows how unpredictable things have become. One weekend, everything goes well, and the next, it can completely turn around.” – the British driver pointed out ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver then explained how the team managed to gain a crucial advantage in tire management, a key factor in a race with variable conditions like the one in Australia. “In the middle part of the race, we understood how to push without compromising the tires. At that point, we were very strong.”

Lando Norris also highlighted the importance of working with teammate Oscar Piastri: “We’ve learned a lot from each other about how to drive the car efficiently. Not every team has two drivers who can push each other forward like this—it’s something we’ve been working on at McLaren for a long time, and now it’s paying off.” – he added.

Looking ahead to the Shanghai weekend, Lando Norris remains cautious, aware of how difficult it is to make predictions in a season where performance can change dramatically from one race to the next. However, morale is high at McLaren, and the team aims to build on its strong showing in Australia.

The post Lando Norris not ruling out Ferrari in China: “Their race pace seemed even better than ours” appeared first on Scuderia Fans.

Since making the switch from Mercedes to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Lewis Hamilton has faced a steep learning curve in adapting to his new team. Despite his vast experience, he has struggled to convert his potential into outright pace on track, and his hopes of securing an eighth World Drivers’ Championship are already looking slim after just the first race of the season.

Hamilton finished 10th in the Australian Grand Prix, though he did momentarily lead the race before a heavy rainstorm disrupted the proceedings. A bold strategy call ultimately prevented him from achieving a better result on his Ferrari debut. However, his performance in qualifying indicated that Ferrari might currently have the fourth-fastest car on the grid, suggesting a solid foundation to build upon as the season progresses.

Former Ferrari UK base general manager and current F1 journalist Peter Windsor expressed his disbelief at the Briton and Ferrari’s failure to resolve a communication issue before their first official race together, a problem that undoubtedly hindered their performance and hurt their chances in Melbourne. Despite these setbacks, Lewis Hamilton has already made adjustments to his driving style to better align with Ferrari’s approach, indicating his willingness to experiment with new techniques now that he is part of a new team.

Christian Danner believes that Lewis Hamilton is “completely overwhelmed” by the flood of information he has had to process since joining Ferrari. The switch to a team based outside of England, coupled with potential language barriers and new team dynamics, has created a challenging environment for Lewis Hamilton. Danner feels that the abundance of new data and unfamiliarity with the team’s processes left Hamilton struggling to keep up during his debut in Melbourne, potentially overwhelming the veteran driver.

He mentioned that he had always said before the season began that it was important to wait and see, emphasizing that Lewis Hamilton now needed to get into the car, and only the stopwatch would ultimately matter.

Reflecting on the events at the Albert Park circuit, Christian Danner described the situation as shocking. He felt that the seven-time Formula 1 world champion appeared to be completely overwhelmed by the experience.

He added that the British driver seemed to struggle with the information provided, which, in contrast to the situation with his Maranello teammate and the water story, was clear and presented in a straightforward manner, outlining what needed to be done and how Hamilton could be assisted. He noted that Hamilton was clearly having significant difficulties adapting to the entire Ferrari package.

The upcoming Chinese Grand Prix is set to take place on a permanent circuit, a layout that could potentially favor Ferrari’s car more than the temporary circuits. However, this does not mean the team can afford to relax, as there remains a lot of work to be done to ensure optimal performance.

Marc Priestley, a former F1 engineer, observed something “interesting” in Lewis Hamilton’s radio communications during the Australian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer this season is Riccardo Adami, a familiar figure within the Ferrari team, having previously worked with both Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel. Adami is an experienced engineer who has been involved in nearly every conceivable situation during his time with the team, making him a valuable asset for Hamilton as he navigates his new role at Ferrari.

Priestley noted that Hamilton’s radio messages in Australia were particularly polite, which he attributed to the early stages of Hamilton’s transition to Ferrari. At this point, the British driver is still adjusting to his new environment, and his tone over the radio reflected that. However, Hamilton did ask his race engineer to stop repeating certain phrases, a request that’s not uncommon when a driver becomes more familiar with the team’s communication style. This type of feedback typically comes as drivers become more comfortable in their new surroundings.

Looking ahead to the Chinese Grand Prix, it is expected that Hamilton’s conversations with his race engineer will become more urgent following a disappointing start to the 2025 F1 campaign in Australia. The Maranello team will be eager to bounce back in Shanghai and will likely work together with a heightened sense of urgency to turn things around after the initial challenges faced in the opening race of the year.

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The Maranello team did not express its potential, but the alarm bell must be sounded nonetheless. Moreover, when things could have been corrected, the tire change from slicks to wets in the second part of the race at the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne was made with wrong timing. A wrong strategy, trying luck like a roulette spin, without properly reflecting on the possible consequences.

McLaren, as well as Red Bull and Mercedes, appeared significantly better in wet conditions, setting a faster pace in the first stint. The papaya-colored cars maintained a pace around 1.5 seconds faster than Charles Leclerc. Only Max Verstappen, in the first seven laps after the restart, managed to keep pace with the MCL39 single-seaters, then losing second place to Oscar Piastri due to a mistake.

The Dutch driver could no longer stabilize tire temperature due to the lack of water on track, losing over a second per lap in the middle part of the stint. Charles Leclerc’s pace was far from constant, showing a general lack of confidence in the car. The SF-25 was unstable. The Ferrari drivers were forced to make many corrections with the steering wheel, almost constantly delaying throttle input on the exit.

The Monegasque driver spent the first part of the race behind George Russell, but with a constantly slower pace. The Englishman made a difference particularly in the third sector, where the Maranello cars struggled throughout the Australian Grand Prix weekend. George Russell benefited from better traction out of the penultimate corner and the ability to carry more speed in the fast section of corners 10 and 11.

Lewis Hamilton complicated his race at the start, when in order to avoid the collision with his Maranello teammate, he had to give up his position to Alex Albon. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion had more pace than the Williams driver, but the lack of push from his Ferrari’s traction before the final straight never allowed him to attempt an overtaking maneuver. In conversation with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, the Englishman tried different hybrid strategies, but these attempts were in vain due to the excessive distance from the Thai driver.

In the first stint, the McLaren duo made the biggest difference in the third sector, the most cornered one, where a good balance is crucial to tackle the turns. In the third sector, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could brake later than their rivals while still getting good traction on the exit. The MCL39 showed very little understeer when entering, always reaching the apex of the corner with ease.

On the exit, the rear-end roll and the camber gain of the tires provided excellent grip. Also, thanks to Oscar Piastri’s slipstream, Max Verstappen was the fastest in the straights, using aerodynamic efficiency to stay close to the two English cars. The Red Bull driver was quite conservative on the braking phase to maintain good traction and try to stay in the slipstream of the papaya-colored cars.

To complete the analysis, let’s focus on the final part of the Australian Grand Prix. The Safety Car and the rain, which came only two laps after switching to slicks, did not allow for significant data to be gathered. In the final laps with intermediates, Max Verstappen was slightly faster than Lando Norris. With less fuel, he suffered less from traction. The Dutchman matched the Briton in corners while gaining ground in the straights.

Oscar Piastri and the two Ferrari cars, on the other hand, were slowed down by the slower cars in the midfield, losing almost two seconds per lap. The Mercedes duo placed immediately behind the leading group in terms of performance, bringing home the most points in the team standings. An excellent performance from Kimi Antonelli, who managed to rise from sixteenth to fourth.

The Italian showed great skill in the rain, bringing the car home without a scratch. Kimi Antonelli was patient in the first part of the race, trying to understand how the car behaved under extreme conditions. Putting aside the spin in the escape road of turn 4, the Italian driver’s race was virtually flawless, accompanied by excellent pit strategy from Mercedes.

Ferrari needs to lick its wounds after the disastrous Formula 1 weekend to Australia. The Maranello team has (theoretically) understood how to make the car work, as demonstrated on Friday. The problem is that they still have not found the right setup for qualifying and the race. In a few hours, we will be back in the preview of the race week in Shanghai, where we will get a clearer picture of the aerodynamic work of the SF-25 ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. The bar set by McLaren is extremely high, and for Ferrari it is now essential to react.

— see video above —

The post Ferrari: deficient traction and inconsistency in lap time | Australian GP technical analysis appeared first on Scuderia Fans.

Ineffective communication
Among the many aspects Ferrari will need to improve after the disappointing Australian GP, communication between Lewis Hamilton and his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami, is certainly one of them. Riccardo Adami previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. Multiple times, the two struggled to communicate information correctly, with the seven-time world champion not appreciating Riccardo Adami’s insistence on repeating messages—though he later explained that “Riccardo did his best.”

Below, we’ve compiled a series of team radio messages between the two that clearly illustrate this lack of understanding. Particularly notable was the “K1 saga,” referring to a button on the Ferrari steering wheel that Riccardo Adami repeatedly asked Hamilton to press, frustrating the 40-year-old from Stevenage.

Some of the most relevant team radio exchanges

Lap 4
Adami: “Stay in Mode Charge. Charge Button on.”
Hamilton: “Yes, no problem. Just don’t repeat everything, please.”
Adami: “Understood.”

Lap 13
Adami: “You can use K1 when you’re close.”
Hamilton: “Leave it to me, please.”
Adami: “K1 is available.”
Hamilton: “Yes, I know. Leave it to me, please.”

Lap 25
Adami: “To avoid DRS being denied, we suggest you change gear and then use DRS.”
Hamilton: “Please, leave it [to me]. Yes [I understand], please leave it [to me].”
Adami: “Understood.”
Hamilton: “I’m in the car, mate. Leave it to me. DRS is not an issue.”

Lap 31
Adami: “Try holding K1, just as a test. I know it’s difficult.”
Hamilton: “I’m not close enough! I’m not close enough! When I am, I will do it.”
Adami: “Understood.”

Lap 40 and onwards
Hamilton: “Will there be more rain?”
Adami: “Arriving in two laps, class 4. Should last only two laps.”

Adami: “For now, we’re staying out. Let us know if you need intermediates.”
Hamilton: “It’s okay, just keep me updated in the last sector.”

Hamilton: “Will there be more rain?”
Adami: “Negative. Just this. Hopefully. We’ll see. It’s still raining in the pit lane.”

Adami: “You’re leading the race.”
Hamilton: “Mate, it’s very slippery. More rain is coming. Sh*t, we should have pitted. More rain is coming. The whole track is wet.”
Adami: “You should pit within a lap. Safety Car.”
Hamilton: “Yeah, it’s too slippery. Staying out on these tires is dangerous. I don’t think it’ll dry soon; everything is wet.”
Adami: “Understood. Box.”

Hamilton: “I thought you said it wouldn’t rain much. We missed a big opportunity.”
Adami: “Understood.”

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The rain chaos in Australia sparked panic on track, with Ferrari taking a big risk and failing in its strategy.

In a Grand Prix marked by twists and turns, including retirements, slippery tracks, and various disruptions, Ferrari came out defeated, heads down. Charles Leclerc finished eighth, and Lewis Hamilton only managed tenth; for the seven-time world champion, it was the worst debut ever for a Ferrari driver.

Ridiculed by rivals, former F1 figures, and the press, the Maranello team must now react and has the chance to do so immediately in China. Looking back, even Christian Horner commented on the rival team’s nightmare weekend.

While Max Verstappen bet on dry conditions, staying out for two more laps, Ferrari decided to take an additional risk. Max Verstappen’s gamble paid off, as Red Bull’s boss explained that stopping one lap earlier wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

At one point in the race, Lewis Hamilton found himself in the lead, while Charles Leclerc was third. However, the rain kept falling, and it was already too late. Norris easily overtook the two Ferrari drivers on intermediates, and when Ferrari finally brought them in, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton returned to the track in ninth and tenth places.

“It looked like they were taking quite a gamble,” Christian Horner told the media after the Australian GP. “Then they probably gave up at the worst moment. I didn’t follow their race plans too closely, but from the pit wall, it certainly looked like that.” – the Red Bull team principal pointed out.

To add a bit of spice, Christian Horner then offered some “practical” advice to Ferrari on how to handle rain: “I think you always need to react to what’s happening around you. When it’s raining heavily in the pit lane, that’s usually the right time to put on the wet tires.” – he concluded.

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Lewis Hamilton’s debut race with Ferrari at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix did not meet the expectations of many fans. Despite his best efforts, the seven-time world champion could only manage a disappointing 10th-place finish, narrowly clinging onto the final points position.

Hamilton seemed on course to secure ninth, benefiting from a strategy error by Ferrari that left both drivers at a disadvantage after a late Safety Car period. However, a last-minute overtake by Oscar Piastri at Turn 9 pushed Hamilton down to 10th, with F1 commentator Martin Brundle remarking that Hamilton likely wouldn’t want to relive the moment given how easily he lost the position.

It’s clear that there is still significant work ahead for Hamilton and Ferrari if they are to become serious contenders for race victories. One of the areas requiring attention is their team radio communication.

Early Team Radio Issues Indicate Room for Improvement at Ferrari

From the outset of the Australian GP, Hamilton and his engineer Riccardo Adami faced communication struggles over the team radio. Lewis Hamilton was heard asking Riccardo Adami not to repeat instructions, a request that was met with further repeated commands, prompting a polite but firm response from Hamilton. This early miscommunication can likely be attributed to Adami’s previous experience working with Carlos Sainz, where a different level of information might have been required.

Interestingly, Hamilton’s frustration with the team radio wasn’t a new issue. A similar pattern was observed during his early years at Mercedes, particularly with his long-time race engineer, Peter Bonnington. In 2013, when Hamilton first joined Mercedes, he frequently requested less information, asking Bono to simplify his instructions. This is not a unique situation, as Hamilton’s frustration with receiving excessive or redundant information has been a recurring theme in his career.

Despite these early hiccups, it’s clear that Hamilton’s relationship with Adami will evolve over time. F1 race engineers and drivers develop close-knit partnerships, often taking time to synchronize their approaches. Looking at successful driver-engineer duos like Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase, Michael Schumacher and Chris Dyer, and even Sebastian Vettel and Guillaume Rocquelin, it’s evident that early challenges are part of the process.

Charles Leclerc, too, is currently going through a similar adjustment phase with his engineer, Bryan Bozzi. Their partnership only started midway through last season, as evidenced by their somewhat comical exchange during the Australian GP, where the Monegasque questioned whether there was a “leak” in his car, prompting a dry response from Bozzi.

Lewis Hamilton himself was proactive in seeking advice about Adami, knowing that the engineer had previously worked with Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari. Hamilton recognized the importance of establishing a strong relationship, especially with a team like Ferrari that demands perfection.

While it’s likely that communication between Hamilton and Adami will improve in the coming races, it may take as long as 12 months before they reach the same level of seamless collaboration that Hamilton enjoyed with Bono at Mercedes. Patience will be key as Hamilton and Ferrari work to develop the necessary synergy to contend for victories.

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Charles Leclerc endured a challenging start to the 2025 Formula 1 campaign, finishing eighth in the Melbourne Grand Prix behind several midfield competitors. Despite being the fastest Ferrari driver throughout the weekend, his race was far from ideal as he struggled with tyre degradation and communication issues.

With Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari looming, Charles Leclerc was eager to make a strong impression, knowing scrutiny over his ability to compete with the seven-time world champion would be inevitable. Ferrari initially showed promising pace on Friday, hinting at a potential battle with McLaren. However, that performance faded as the weekend progressed, with Leclerc particularly suffering from severe graining on the Intermediate tyres, which compromised his race strategy.

Beyond the on-track struggles, Ferrari’s race-day communication also appeared to be a point of concern, leading to an unusual exchange between Charles Leclerc and his engineer, Bryan Bozzi.

Peter Windsor criticizes Charles Leclerc’s ‘uncalled for’ team radio remarks during Australian GP
Midway through the race, Leclerc radioed in to report what he believed to be a leak, stating that “a lot of water” was entering his cockpit. Bryan Bozzi quickly responded that it was likely coming from Leclerc’s drinks bottle, only for the Monégasque to sarcastically reply, “Let’s add that to the words of wisdom.”

While many fans found the exchange amusing and labeled it an ‘iconic’ moment between the Monegasque and his engineer, veteran F1 analyst and former Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor took a different view. Discussing the incident on the *Cameron CC* podcast, Peter Windsor suggested that Charles Leclerc’s remark was unnecessary, implying that the Ferrari driver may have been overly dismissive or frustrated in the moment.

With Ferrari looking to refine its race operations and maximize performance in 2025, both Charles Leclerc’s communication and the team’s overall coordination will be key areas to watch as the season unfolds.

Peter Windsor expressed his belief that Formula 1 drivers should avoid trying to outshine their engineers on live team radio during a Grand Prix. He suggested that any grievances or criticisms should be addressed privately in post-race debriefs rather than over the radio, where valuable airtime could be used for more important discussions.

Referring to Charles Leclerc’s exchange about water leaking from his drinks bottle, Windsor argued that a more constructive response would have been to ask whether anything could be done about it, rather than making a sarcastic remark. He implied that Leclerc’s reaction seemed more focused on generating social media attention rather than engaging in a meaningful conversation with his engineer.

Windsor also pointed out that Leclerc has a tendency to respond cynically in situations he finds frustrating, describing it as unnecessary. He suggested that such behavior undermines the work of engineers, as dismissive remarks can make it seem as though providing drivers with detailed information is a negative aspect of their job, when in reality, they are simply trying to assist the team.

Charles Leclerc Calls for Ferrari to Address Key Issues Ahead of Chinese GP

Charles Leclerc’s 2025 season opener did not go as planned, with the Ferrari driver struggling to make an impact in the Australian Grand Prix. His race was further complicated by a spin while battling with midfield contenders Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda, highlighting the challenges he faced throughout the weekend.

Despite the setback, Leclerc managed to secure eighth place, narrowly staying ahead of Oscar Piastri, who had overtaken Lewis Hamilton for ninth after the final restart. A bold move against Hamilton helped him create enough of a gap to hold position, but the overall performance left him looking for answers.

While acknowledging his own mistake in the race, Leclerc emphasized that Ferrari must analyze two key areas before heading to China. He believes the team’s strategic decisions played a major role in their inability to maintain a top-five position and is calling for a thorough review to prevent similar struggles in upcoming races.

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There are many mitigating factors for Lewis Hamilton, from the limited testing on the SF-25 to the procedures with the team, from the settings still to be learned and explored to communication with the pit crew, not to mention the wet conditions, which were far from ideal for a debut with a new team.

But Lewis Hamilton was stuck behind Alexander Albon’s Williams without ever having the opportunity to attempt an overtaking move, and then he completely missed the timing to switch to intermediate tires as the track rapidly became wetter. In short, a postcard from Melbourne to quickly discard.

The contact with Oscar Piastri
When the Safety Car left the track, there were 6 laps remaining in the Australian Grand Prix, and Lewis Hamilton was in eighth place. The seven-time world champion was immediately overtaken on the outside of Turn 1 by Charles Leclerc and tried to resist the charge of Oscar Piastri with the McLaren, who was eager to make a comeback. The Australian closed in with a pace of over a second per lap faster and easily passed Hamilton on the last lap, overtaking him on the outside without the Briton being able to put up a fight, in an overtaking move not shown by the cameras.

This video showcases the great maneuver and also how Lewis Hamilton’s SF-25 made contact with Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, ultimately causing significant damage to his front wing. The negative cherry on top of a decidedly disappointing weekend.

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The Australian Grand Prix result was influenced by strategy and driving errors, but looking ahead, the performances at Albert Park raise some questions. On intermediate tires, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, despite being the only one with clear air in the first stint, was the fourth-best car on track, behind George Russell, Max Verstappen, and the two McLaren MCL39 cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. For years, Maranello’s single-seaters have struggled in similar conditions, and this time, a general lack of optimization of the aerodynamic package compounded the issue. Lewis Hamilton confirmed that they did not get the car into the right window and also does not believe the SF-25 is as far off as it appeared last Sunday and the previous day in qualifying.

On Saturday, Ferrari particularly struggled in Q3, improving by just 72 thousandths of a second from Q2, compared to McLaren’s three-tenths and Mercedes’ two and a half tenths. Charles Leclerc said that the car changed quite a bit between Q2 and Q3 and that he did not have confidence. According to his Maranello teammate, the wind direction and temperature drop altered the balance. If that were the case, the concern is that the SF-25 might suffer from an overly narrow operating window, similar to Mercedes in 2024, which lost competitiveness with even the slightest environmental variation. However, there is suspicion that Ferrari was already at the edge of its operating range beforehand.

The Red car showed the least improvement from the second free practice session to Q2, gaining just six-tenths compared to McLaren’s 11 and Max Verstappen’s 15. These struggles reflect the drivers’ feelings, with their dissatisfaction on Saturday contrasting with the great confidence they had on Friday, when Charles Leclerc openly aimed for pole position, a major clue about the car’s potential. The subsequent changes led to a decline in balance, causing the car to slide and overheat the tires, which was inevitable with the soft compound and 40°C track temperatures, particularly affecting performance in the third sector.

Charles Leclerc admitted after qualifying that they had done the right thing and had to lose some performance. The first hypothesis is that the Maranello team’s engineers and technicians sought greater stability and mechanical grip at the expense of aerodynamics in anticipation of rain, a theory seemingly contradicted by Sunday’s race pace. However, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur had already emphasized on Friday the importance of anticipating the track’s evolution. Saturday’s forecast predicted temperatures 10 degrees celsius higher than the first day, which might have influenced setup choices. However, the cloudy sky kept the track temperature stable, potentially nullifying the adjustments.

There is also the hypothesis that Ferrari raised the car after detecting excessive wear on the floor, compromising the initial setup baseline. This theory gains credibility considering that at the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season, predictive models for plank wear are still being refined, partly due to limited experience with the new suspension. Regardless of the nature of the sacrifice made, the SF-25 on Saturday and Sunday was not the same well-balanced and tire-friendly car seen at the beginning of the Australian weekend.

Frederic Vasseur summarized after the race that it was much more indicative to look at what they had done from Friday morning until Q2 rather than what had emerged in Sunday’s conditions. In his two years at Maranello, the Team Principal has always been honest about problems, giving credibility to his perspective on what happened at the Albert Park circuit. Everything suggests that Melbourne was a misstep, like others seen in the past. The difference is that, being the first race, the public fears that the issue is not execution but the project itself.

The French manager reiterated that he believed the real picture was what they had seen on Friday and Saturday, but even in that case, McLaren was a step ahead. The goal for the next races will be to maximize the package’s potential and the points haul. Only in this way will it be possible to quantify the actual gap to the world champions, assess whether it can be closed through development, and determine whether to believe in the 2025 Formula 1 title dream.

The pre-race statements are another sign of the discrepancy between the Melbourne result and internal expectations. Both before and after testing, Maranello’s drivers openly spoke of the world championship as a goal. This attitude is quite unusual considering the caution developed after the great disappointment of 2023 and is justifiable only with the conviction of having a strong Formula 1 project. It is possible that McLaren’s leap forward exceeded all predictions, as, on the eve of the final year of ground-effect regulations, with cars nearing their limits, major progress was not expected. However, the confidence displayed in statements may stem not from the SF-25 itself but from its development potential.

Switching to a pull-rod front suspension is akin to taking one step back before taking two forward. Aerodynamically, it required deconstructing the previous airflow structure and building a new one, making it difficult to immediately match and improve on the results of the old concept developed over years. Technical director Loic Serra said in February that the hope was for the development pace to be faster than at the end of last season. Updates will determine how valid this hope is, but before then, the SF-25 single-seater must prove that the gap to McLaren is not what was seen in Melbourne.

— see video above —

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So let’s try to analyze Ferrari’s difficulties in Australia. The Maranello team never showed a decent pace. In the first part of the race, with the Intermediate tires, the goal was to activate them and then cruise along. The pace was 2 or 3 seconds slower than the leaders, referring to McLaren and Max Verstappen‘s Red Bull. A bit too much to bear. What is interesting here comes from the team radio messages, when Riccardo Adami and Bryan Bozzi, respectively Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s race engineers, repeatedly complimented them on their good pace.

This clearly shows how nothing different was expected from Ferrari at the Albert Park circuit and it not a good sign according to us. The data collected reiterates the difficulties of the Maranello team. It’s only the first race, time is needed, all true. That said, such a start is not a good omen. The team had anticipated it would be tough, but the result is not acceptable. It’s not about the final positions but the gap, the performance deficit per lap compared to the leaders.

Today, we are still talking about a complicated race, within a competitive context that is not easy to judge due to environmental conditions. At least for now, awaiting further findings, it seems that the Italian team has made another car that is not exactly comfortable with the rain. Both Ferrari drivers are quite skilled on a wet track, yet last Sunday they couldn’t take risks. They were asked not to. Activating and maintaining temperature in the Intermediates was truly difficult.

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is not Mattia Binotto. We have discussed this aspect many times. Progressively, under his leadership, the team has abandoned impossible strategies, those that even with dedicated software could not be imagined. Yet, in the Australian Grand Prix, although it was not the worst we have seen from Ferrari in recent years, considering that Monaco 2022 remains an unbeatable milestone, the pit wall decision in the second part of the race is quite debatable.

Leaving the two drivers at the mercy of the rain on Hard tires was not exactly a great idea. We understand that the hope was to gain positions, hoping the downpour would pass quickly. However, risking such a scenario seemed highly inappropriate. This, of course, aside from Charles Leclerc’s spin. A tactic that would make a “good impression” among the many collected by the previous management before Frederic Vasseur arrived.

By the way, the risk of crashing into the barriers at that moment was quite high, considering the grip with the Pirelli Hard tires, cold as ice, on the wet track and with a sudden downpour, was comparable to the slippery fields at water parks, where slipping and falling continuously is part of the game. Lewis Hamilton complained a lot about the issue. Fortunately, both drivers held on.

When things aren’t going well, the need to find a scapegoat becomes apparent. The most significant change Ferrari made for the 2025 Formula 1 season concerns the new front suspension. The SF-25 features a pull-rod layout. From a kinematic perspective, the front end no longer works in compression but in traction. A clear difference in philosophy, but one that offers neither advantages nor disadvantages, mechanically speaking. We know very well why the Maranello team made this choice.

A decision made by the aerodynamic department, led by the excellent Diego Tondi, who, it should be remembered, took charge of the aerodynamic team after the failure of the Spanish floor introduced by Italian aerodynamicist and former Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile and completely fixed the car. New development paths: that was the target set. Blaming the pull-rod as the sole cause of the car’s poor performance is not correct. A Formula 1 car is a complex system of interactions, where every component matters. In the first round of the 2025 Formula 1 season, nothing worked.

Alongside last Sunday’s poor performance, the confirmations we wrote about prior to the race weekend are coming through. The Maranello team didn’t load the rear thinking about the rain. We did not see any of those wet weather advantages that many expected. The adjustment was meant to optimize the car at this level of downforce, but this move clearly did not succeed. Even the issue regarding the wear of the skid doesn’t hold up, with the car raised and therefore losing something in terms of performance.

The behavior on track didn’t change from the final free practice session to qualifying. Same handling. In conclusion, it should be said that in just a few days we are back on track, this time in China, at the Shanghai International Circuit. A much more demanding race track when it comes to validating the overall performance of Formula 1 cars. Ferrari needs to step up and erase this bad weekend. They can definitely do better, and as far as we know, the Maranello team has no doubts about it, convinced they will succeed. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. They are already at work analyzing the data at Maranello.

— see video above —

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