Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has insisted that the team is going in the “right direction” with the SF-25, despite enduring a troubled conclusion to Formula 1 pre-season testing.
The Maranello-based squad’s new machine comprises some aggressive design choices which inspired Red Bull team boss Christian Horner to label it the “standout” on the grid.
Among the notable changes that Ferrari has made in comparison to its title-contending SF-24 predecessor is the expected switch to a pull-rod front suspension configuration.
Ferrari explained that the basis behind the swap this late into the regulation period was done to open up a greater scope for car development across the upcoming season.
But while the SF-25 showed promising peak potential at times, Ferrari’s test ended on a downbeat note as its drivers struggled with the car’s balance once conditions improved.
However, Vasseur has claimed that Ferrari’s 2025 package with the revised suspension convention has correlated with the team’s virtual data to produce the anticipated step.
“With the suspension change we have opened a new door for development because after a few years there was a need to differentiate something and I think we have all done it,” Vasseur told Sky Italia.
“So far it is working well, I am not talking in terms of results but in terms of numbers. Everything is going in the right direction.”
Ferrari not reading into testing times
The general consensus in the paddock is that McLaren has stolen a march on the opposition, with Lando Norris catching the headlines with a blistering race simulation.
But with that particular run occurring under cooler, unrepresentative conditions in Bahrain, Vasseur has warned that little can be read into the lap times posted in testing.
“Are we in the fight for victory in Melbourne? Honestly, I think it’s too preliminary, also because the conditions here in Bahrain were for once so extreme that it’s difficult to have a clear picture of the situation,” he addressed.
“But from one session to another the situation changes a lot.
“We don’t know the fuel level of the others, it becomes very difficult to interpret everything.
“We said the same thing before coming to Bahrain: we have to stay focused on what we are doing, on the new balance, on our numbers and not think about the others, then we’ll see how it goes.
“We only know our own work and not that of others. You can speculate, you can speculate a lot, but if you look at the first session, if I’m not mistaken, [Max] Verstappen was a second faster than last year; then things changed, so you can only speculate.
“We have to focus on ourselves, the numbers we got are the same as we expected, and the same goes for the balance: if that’s the case, I trust the guys, we have good feelings about the car.”
Vasseur noted that the hotter temperatures that will be prevalent at the season-opening round in Australia will have a considerable bearing on the pecking order that weekend.
“If we look at the hierarchy of previous years, what we saw here was not the same as qualifying a week later in the same conditions,” the Frenchman expanded.
“We will go from 10-15 degrees on the track to 45 degrees later, so in Melbourne we will be ready and it will be a different story.”
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