Ferrari disappointed many in 2025, particularly the expectations of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. The 2024 championship final had raised hopes in Ferrari's beating heart and that of all his fans. To have a correct understanding of what happened last year, however, in our opinion, we need to go back to the central part of the 2024 World Cup, a season in which the Maranello team missed the chance to win the constructors' championship due to a poor update. A mistake that then had serious repercussions on the following year.
So close, so far. The story of Ferrari's last two seasons
That the SF-24 had good potential was clear from the very first races. Obviously not so high as to allow drivers Leclerc and Sainz to fight Verstappen, but enough, as we have seen, to aim for the manufacturers championship. The Dutchman began his great career season, but among his opponents Ferrari excelled: in the first nine races of 2024, that is, taking into account all the events preceding the Spanish stage, Verstappen had obtained 6 victories, 2 for the Ferrari (Sainz in Australia with Leclerc completing the one-two and Charles in Monaco) and 1 for McLaren (Norris in Miami).
Ferrari brought a large number of upgrades to Barcelona, including a redesigned rear wing and micro aerodynamics around the Halo, but above all it did important work involving the rear and sides. Unfortunately, a very important mistake was made with the fund which effectively constituted a step backwards for the Scuderia of Maranello. From Spain to Hungary, that is, in the space of 4 GPs, Ferrari managed to collect only one podium, with Sainz in Austria, and had to deal with two results outside the zone for Leclerc (Spielberg and Great Britain).
During the same period, at least one of Piastri and Norris always managed to reach the podium, with the highest point reached in Hungary, where McLaren even achieved a one-two. Belgium marks Ferrari's rebirth. Leclerc achieved two consecutive third-place finishes followed by victory at Monza, but the team had lost confidence, while Woking's team was actually growing. He had started the year as the fourth force and found himself fighting for the constructors' title midway through the season. The two teams will start a heated battle (Norris will win in the Netherlands, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, Piastri in Azerbaijan, while Leclerc in Monza and Austin, Sainz in Mexico) but McLaren had by then laid the foundations to close out the world championship as champions and launch itself strongly towards 2025 as a top player.
Ferrari missed its chance both because of the mistake made in Spain with the bottom and because of a lack of self-confidence. A psychological deficit that led her to make poor decisions in the design of the 2025 car, not even allowing her to achieve a single victory during the entire season.
A bad update pretty much ruined the work of two seasons. We like to think that if Ferrari had done the right things in May 2024, not only would the SF-24 have turned out to be the best car of that year, but 2025 would have been very different from what we commented.
Cover photo: Ferrari (description: Leclerc and the Ferrari's technicians on the grid for the 2025 Qatar GP)
Internal photos: Ferrari (descriptions: in the first starting from the top, Leclerc in the pits during the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP weekend, while in the other Lewis Hamilton on the grid of the 2025 Brazilian GP)
Read also in italian language: Ferrari, l’errore che ha compromesso il sogno e le ultime due stagioni
