Ferrari is lacking on this begin of the 2025 Formulation 1 championship. The Italian crew simply can’t appear to take off, with efficiency that continues to be crippled. The brand new flooring appeared prefer it may supply one thing further on the 6.174-kilometre Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and but, when all was stated and accomplished, the qualifying outcome remained the identical. Charles Leclerc, skillful in getting essentially the most out of the SF-25 automobile, secured the second row with a fourth-place end behind George Russell. In the meantime, Lewis Hamilton didn’t transcend seventh place, even behind the person who took his seat, specifically Carlos Sainz, now driving for Williams.
As soon as once more the setup alternative doesn’t repay just because the efficiency isn’t there. With out getting misplaced in an excessive amount of element, we instantly discover that a big hole shaped within the first three corners, a problem already seen on Friday through the first free apply periods and never resolved by the Maranello crew’s technicians and engineers. Wanting on the lap as a complete, the primary turns are the one gradual ones on the circuit. The SF-25 has mechanical grip, and we now have seen that it may profit by way of racing line, so the difficulty will not be low-speed grip per se.
We have to take a look at the scenario extra broadly and think about two key components that possible had a significant impression. The primary is that Ferrari aimed to optimize one sort of nook, however in doing so, made dealing with harder in different sections. A Formulation 1 automobile should at all times be a compromise, and on this case, quick corners matter extra, as they make up many of the monitor.
By way of suspension setup, the Maranello-based F1 crew had fewer choices in comparison with Pink Bull and McLaren, who each begin with a a lot stiffer suspension base. Ferrari needed to seek for this attribute of their setup to be able to get essentially the most out of the platform. As soon as once more, this isn’t an issue stemming from the rear suspension, which is the results of varied design decisions which might be helpful on different circuits.
Ferrari’s working window is sort of slender and, normally, it has much less uncooked efficiency than the Pink Bull RB21 single-seater, which has lots of tempo however is even tougher to fine-tune. The second key issue issues the tyres, because the entrance ones calm down in a short time. Each Italian vehicles began their laps with entrance tyre temperatures too removed from the goal worth. This subject affected different groups as effectively.
Nevertheless, others managed to mitigate it or a minimum of steadiness the hole over the course of the lap. Ferrari’s end result within the qualifying session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is due to this fact the results of these two components, in roughly equal measure. Other than that, the steadiness wasn’t dangerous, however they proceed to endure from slight understeer in comparison with their important opponents. This side considerably reduces how a lot velocity they’ll carry via the center of the nook. On high of that, the automobile will not be very steady throughout route adjustments.
battle for pole place, McLaren was extra aggressive than Pink Bull. Contemplate that Max Verstappen bought a robust slipstream on the principle straight, arriving at flip 1 with a 0.1-second benefit over Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. The Dutchman gained a full 8 kilometers per hour on the principle straight in comparison with his closest rivals. The Austrian crew knew they didn’t have extra tempo than the MCL39, however they’re conscious that within the race it is going to be onerous to overhaul them resulting from their excessive high speeds.
For sure, in Jeddah McLaren as soon as once more had essentially the most full bundle. General, Oscar Piastri was a bit weaker on nook entry, however very fast within the second half of the turns, from the acceleration part onward. Within the first meters of the exit, he was gaining time on the ultra-fast RB21, however by the tip of every straight, the blue-liveried automobile was again on high.
— see video above —
Purchase official Ferrari F1 merchandise!
Let different Scuderia Followers learn about us
