What is going on at Ferrari?

By Ben Langley

Ahead of the much-anticipated 2025 Formula 1 season, many tipped Ferrari to continue their strong form at the end of last season into this year. However, after six races the Scuderia find themselves in 4th place in the Constructors Championship and 152 points behind McLaren. The Miami Grand Prix perhaps showed the team’s lowest point, as they were the fifth fastest car with both drivers finishing the race behind the Williams of Alexander Albon. Ferrari’s race was a messy one to say the least, as frustrations became more and more evident, especially from Lewis Hamilton.

Questions were being asked of Ferrari from the get-go this year, with the team stating that the design of the car had been completely overhauled for the 2025 season. It seemed a strange decision given the strong performance of the car at the back end of 2024, plus with this year being the last year of the current technical regulations. Technical director Loic Serra said in February that the change in approach was to ‘find room to push on aerodynamic development’.

Despite these radical changes, team principal Fred Vasseur admitted that the resources would likely shift towards next season saying ‘probably in the summer we will all be focused on 2026’. This begs the question as to why the car design was changed so significantly for the final year of these regulations, especially given the sizeable drop-off of the car’s performance.

Lewis Hamilton joined the team with a real sense of optimism of what he and Charles Leclerc could achieve together. However, as the races go by that optimism is turning into frustration. This was the most evident it’s ever been in Miami, with the radio drama putting these frustrations in the limelight.

After taking advantage of a virtual safety car, Hamilton found himself right behind Leclerc on fresh medium tyres. Hamilton clearly had more pace and said he should be let through to chase after Antonelli. However, Ferrari’s history of dilly-dallying with decision-making was shown once again as the team took three laps to instigate the swap, and by then it was too late. Hamilton’s tyres lost performance after being stuck behind Leclerc and he couldn’t pull clear of his teammate. Ferrari instructed Hamilton to swap back, and he sarcastically asked if he should let Williams’ Carlos Sainz through as well, with the former Ferrari driver close behind.

This frustration hasn’t been shown by Hamilton for a long time, and it showcases the difficulties he is having as he adapts to a new team and race engineer. These outbursts felt like a rarity at the well-oiled machine of Mercedes and it has only taken six races for these cracks to show at Ferrari.

It already seems that 2025 is a write-off for Ferrari, which is inexcusable given the prestige that they hold in the sport. The dire situation will only heap more pressure on the team for 2026, as the wait for their first title looks set to reach 18 years. However, with only a quarter of the season completed, they have to find some performance to force themselves back into the fight. Pressure will only grow if things don’t turn around soon.