First details of Hamilton's radically new Ferrari revealed

The Ferrari car Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will drive in 2025 will be radically different from the '24 machine.

The most obvious change, and one known for some time is the change from push-rod suspension at the front to pull-rods, complete with a front-of-chassis re-design. 

The rear suspension pull-rods will remain, but this does not mean the kinematics of the rear of the change will not change, with a further shortening of the gearbox expected. 

Another change from the 2024 car which finished second to McLaren in the constructors', is that the sidepod air inlets are also expected to be in a different position, shrunk back to ward off the air turbulence generated by the front wheels.

Ferrari, after McLaren, was undoubtedly the team that made the most progress in 2024, with the SF-24 proving to be a reliable conceptual platform consistent with the team's objectives of greater incisiveness in race trim compared to the previous car, the SF-23.

The concept of the SF-24 can be considered a profound evolution of the previous car, although in reality, the changes went deeper than those not seen immediately with the naked eye, such as the lengthening of the fuel tank area and the shortening of the gearbox by about 5cm. 

 In essence, while keeping the wheelbase unchanged, Ferrari was able to modify the weight distribution within the limits allowed by the regulations, significantly impacting the management of load transfers and vehicle dynamics, through the suspensions.

This had remained unchanged in terms of layout, but the internal kinematics and position of the internal components were changed - and from the results the machine collected, it is, therefore, correct to say that the integration between vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics was a success.

Right up until the Maranello engineers tried to push further with the upgrade introduced in Spain.

RacingNews365 understands that the real objective of this botched upgrade introduced in Barcelona was to increase the downforce generated by the floor, and progressively trying to reduce the drag created through various wing levels. 

Whilst the right move on paper, in reality, it proved to be a doubled-edged sword as it re-introduced porpoising which made the car unmanageable, made it lose performance and suffer from increased tyre wear.

The major stumbling point for this upgrade was the diffcult integration into a platform which had already found its strong point in terms of dynamic balance, but which had a low ceiling in terms of adding evolutions on top of it. 

The precise integration of the vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics was the major problem, with the upgrade creating higher aero loads, but also distributing the load differently across the floor from the original configuration. 

Side view Bahrain - Abu Dhabi

This drawing shows the differences between the first version in Bahrain and the latest version in Abu Dhabi. This does not stop at the inlets and the low profile of the sidepods, as the central part and the cooling vents have also been modified.

Not only in terms of the inlets of the sidepods and the other low profile of the sidepods but also in terms of the central part of the car and the cooling vents.

Experimental floor

Ferrari decided for the final race not to use the experimental floor that Leclerc had used in Qatar. It was not considered decisive for performance, but it was a clear preview of the floor that will be used on the new car in early 2025.