Ferrari continues to experience its worst season start in years. Although team boss Frédéric Vasseur indicated he is not overly concerned about the lack of a podium finish, it appears that Scuderia is taking action for Bahrain. Ferrari has designed a new floor for the upcoming Grand Prix, but there is disagreement within the team about whether the upgrade will be brought to the Bahrain International Circuit this weekend.
Ferrari’s subpar season start continued in Japan. While Max Verstappen and McLaren battled for the win, Lewis Hamilton watched the Mercedes disappear on the horizon from seventh place. Charles Leclerc managed to finish fourth, but ended almost fourteen seconds behind third place Oscar Piastri. Hamilton’s sprint victory in China is so far the team’s best result this season.
According to Italian Formula Uno, the SF-25 is suffering from ‘a lack of balance and pure performance’. Ferrari reportedly wants to solve these problems with a new floor for the GP Bahrain. The floor is expected to provide more stability and balance in the car, thereby expanding the working window. In addition, the floor should provide more efficient downforce.
Will the New Floor Make it to Bahrain?
However, within the Ferrari camp, there is still disagreement about when exactly the new floor will be installed on the SF-25. According to the Italian La Gazzetta dello Sport, the aerodynamics department is eager to start working with the new floor in Bahrain immediately. However, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur and Technical Director Loïc Serra would like to delay the introduction. The two Ferrari executives reportedly want to further improve the balance of the SF-25 before implementing another aerodynamic change. This way, the effectiveness of the floor can be better assessed.
Should Ferrari decide on Thursday to bring the new floor to Bahrain, the free practice on Friday could be used to test the new floor against the old one.
