After weeks of rumors and cautious analysis, it's now official: Ferrari has presented the FIA with the first major evolution of its SF-25, which will make its debut this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix. A document published by the FIA confirms the nature of the long-awaited updates, which will focus on the flat bottom, the key aerodynamic zone of the F1 of this generation.
A completely reworked flat bottom
As expected, the evolution is concentrated under the car: Scuderia has redesigned the floor fences to better control airflow and generate a more efficient vortex. The floor body has also been enlarged, redesigned and optimized to enhance aerodynamic loading. The Floor Edge has been shortened and recambered, modifying airflow behavior. Last but not least, the diffuser, a critical area for extracting air from under the car, has been redesigned in terms of volume.
While these changes remain invisible to the general public, a few clues are nonetheless obvious to the most attentive. At the front, the bulkheads have been slightly reworked at the entrance to the Venturi channels: a vertical element now adopts a more rounded profile. The vortex generators remain unchanged, but the environment around them has evolved: the surrounding edge is higher and more linear. At the rear, the diffuser retains its architecture, but the vertical edge now incorporates a notch. All these details are designed to improve the quality of the flow expelled beneath the car and maximize the ground effect.
The first evolution while awaiting the next
Officially, these developments were due to arrive at Silverstone, but the urgency of the results prompted Maranello to bring the schedule forward. The engineers hope to reopen the famous "operating window" that has been so lacking in the SF-25 since Melbourne. While Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc don't expect an immediate miracle, they are counting on this package to stabilize a single-seater still considered too unpredictable.
After the flat floor, the next step could be the rear suspension at Silverstone. This could give Ferrari a glimmer of hope of a return to the podium and a shot at second place in the championship.
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