A shock pole position from Charles Leclerc in Hungary was not enough for Ferrari to take its first Grand Prix victory of 2025, as a familiar set of issues reared their ugly head and exposed Formula 1’s most successful team’s fundamental design flaw.
Despite missing out on a first Constructors Championship since 2008 by 15 points last season, Ferrari took the bold decision to change 99 per cent of its car going into 2025.
And unfortunately, it has been a gamble that has backfired terribly for the Prancing Horse, as while the team remains in second in the Constructors’ Championship, it is an incredibly distant second to the dominant McLaren.
Despite five podiums from Leclerc, Ferrari sits second mostly due to the circumstances surrounding both Red Bull and Mercedes.
Both teams have arguably the quicker package than the Maranello-based squad, but lack the consistency with both cars that Ferrari has been able to rely on with its driver line-up.
The Italian marque goes into the summer break winless in 2025, with Lewis Hamilton’s Sprint triumph in Shanghai back in March the only victory to Ferrari’s name so far.
A magical lap from Leclerc stole pole away from the McLarens in Hungary, though, giving Ferrari its greatest shot at victory all season on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously hard.
However, Ferrari, and especially Leclerc’s race, unravelled due to a problem that has plagued the team from race one and doesn’t seem like it will be rectified anytime soon.
A millimetre from success
From the very first weekend of the season Down Under in Australia, Ferrari has struggled with setting the car up to avoid high wear on the plank.
This has been a nightmare all season, with the car’s design only being optimised when it’s run lower to the ground, but at a higher risk of being disqualified due to excessive wear.
In fact, Shanghai Sprint winner Lewis Hamilton lost a sixth-place finish in the Grand Prix a day later due to that exact technical violation.
Now the rules surrounding plank wear are tight, with only one millimetre of wear allowed over a Grand Prix distance of around 300km.
Despite this, no team has struggled with the threat of wear like Ferrari has in 2025, being unable to realise the full potential of the car on a regular basis because of it.
The Ferrari SF-25 evidently has potential, and when it can be harnessed, the car is second only to McLaren, with the ability to even challenge the papaya machine.
Unfortunately, said potential can only be realised when the car is run low to the ground, something Ferrari is unable to risk on a regular basis.
The team introduced a new rear suspension design for the Belgian Grand Prix to mitigate the issue, the hope being that the new design would allow the car to be run lower.
On multiple occasions, we have heard both Leclerc and Hamilton being told to ‘LICO’ (lift and coast) to protect the plank as the car lifts under slower speeds at the end of straights.
However, it seems that while the update has been a step forward for Ferrari, it can’t fully fix the fundamental flaw with the SF25 – and no more changes are in the pipeline.
Ferrari limitations to remain prevalent in 2025
Leclerc was able to take the race to McLaren and Oscar Piastri in the opening stints in Hungary, but the Monegasque would be told to back off the protect the plank in the latter stages, seeing him not only lose the lead, but fall off the podium completely, ending up fourth.
And while Hamilton suffered a poor weekend of his own, branding himself “useless” after being knocked out in Q2, the Briton’s race was also heavily affected by this issue.
In fact, the seven-time F1 champion was told to start LICO as early as Lap 3, mainly to protect the brakes while in traffic, but no doubt also to remedy potential wear on the plank.
This stunted any chance of Hamilton making any progress, as well as destroying the team’s chance at a first Grand Prix win since the Mexico City Grand Prix last October.
Ferrari had a golden chance to enter the summer break with a victory, but ultimately would leave the paddock following the same disappointment that has stalked it all season.
And with development now being fully turned towards the new 2026 regulations, it seems unlikely that a development will be made this season to solve its chronic weakness.
The only hope for Ferrari lies in finding some kind of setup-related sweet spot, where it can balance the plank wear and performance equally.
Ferrari hasn’t gone winless over a campaign since 2021, but with McLaren looking impenetrable in race trim and a car with a glaring limitation, a difficult reality may be on the horizon.
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