This evening’s grand F1 75 launch event at London’s O2 Arena can be seen as the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season and Scuderia Ferrari HP presented the new car’s livery, watched by CEO Benedetto Vigna, Team Principal, Fred Vasseur and the drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, as well representatives of the team’s partners. Tomorrow, the SF-25 is due to make its track debut behind closed doors at Fiorano, running up to 200 kilometers in its first shakedown, shortly before heading to Bahrain for the one and only pre-season test session, from 26 to 28 February.
Continuity and changes. The car’s name, the SF-25 follows the pattern of the past two years and underlines the stability of the regulations. It is the 71st Formula 1 car built by Ferrari, the fourth of the second generation of ground effect cars introduced in 2022. However, it is a completely new car, using different technical solutions to those adopted in the past. The most visible change initiated by the Loic Serra-led team is without a doubt that made to the front suspension that switches from a pushrod to a pull rod design.
The thinking behind this change in architecture was to clean up the airflow around the car, while also giving greater scope for further aero development, which had pretty much been exhausted with the previous iteration. The car is an evolution from every aspect when compared to last year’s, which provided a good starting point. It was designed with the aim of maximizing the development potential of the car, in a season when, thanks to the long stability of the regulations now in their final year, one can expect the field to be extremely evenly matched with just thousandths of a second in lap time making the difference.
Optimisation. With the regulations relating to its architecture being frozen since 2022, the Power Unit features no technical innovations. However, this does not mean there was no margin for further improvement. The stability of the regulations also meant that the focus moved towards a further optimization of power unit use strategy in an effort to tailor it to suit every single race weekend situation and extract the maximum potential from its given performance. Ensuring reliability is a never-ending job, and over the winter, despite a further reduction in the permitted hours of test bench running, work was carried out to analyze and review each process and the lessons learned from the 2024 season, to ensure reliability in all areas.
Colors and details. As was evident in London this evening, the livery has also changed significantly, presenting a perfect mix of past, present and future, with a declaration of style, power and tradition. The darker shade of 2025 Racing Red with its matte finish, evokes decades of racing, taking its inspiration from the intense tones of the early days of the Scuderia, with an angled, bold white band standing out as a distinctive feature on the car, symbolizing dynamism and a vision that looks to the future. In amongst the main areas are details that balance tradition with modernity, with subtle thin, glossy red and white stripes which recall the sartorial care applied to the clothing and cars that Ferrari produces every day.
The contrast between white and red is a tribute to the marque’s history and identity, and to the continuous evolution of Ferrari style, a manifesto for refined sportiness and timeless aesthetics. The glossy detail on the bodywork is in contrast to the matte detailing on gloss finish of the 499 Hypercar, which competes in the World Endurance Championship, underlining the Maranello DNA shared by these two cars, competing in the two most important motor racing championships. The wheel rims are also entirely red, while the numbers on Charles’ and Lewis’ cars are white, in Ferrari’s official font, Ferrari Sans.
Shakedown then testing. As already mentioned, following the Fiorano shakedown, the SF-25 will then head for Bahrain and the only official pre-season test, before the racing gets underway in Australia on 16 March.
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
“The launch of this new car is a very exciting and proud moment for everyone in the team. Months of hard work have gone into this SF-25 thanks to the dedicated efforts of everyone in the team at Maranello and we are excited to see the fruit of our labors take shape and prepare to take to the track. Last season, we fought for the Constructors’ title to the very last corner and now we are determined to build on that, starting from that solid base with the aim of winning both titles. We have a new driver line-up with Lewis joining Charles and we feel ready as a team to take the extra step required to be the best. We are aware of the challenges that await us, but we are ready to give it our all, to be competitive at the highest level, knowing we can also rely on the support and enthusiasm of our fans, who always inspire us. Now it’s time to concentrate on the job in hand and let the track do the talking. I can’t wait for this season to start.”
Loic Serra, Technical Director Chassis
“The SF-25 is an evolution of the SF-24, which gave us an excellent starting point to work from. Having said that, we have worked hard, changing 99% of the car, evolving its architecture to maximize performance. The pull rod front suspension is only the most obvious of many significant changes. We can expect the coming season to be very closely contested, with outcomes decided by thousands of a second. We are all set to give it our best shot to find those gains, even the marginal ones, that can make the difference. We are looking forward to being competitive right from the very first race.”
Enrico Gualtieri, Technical Director PU
“This moment is the culmination of weeks of hard work and determination and we are very enthusiastic about the coming season. The 2025 power unit has been developed in the context of regulations that have been frozen since 2022, but we have remained as fully committed as ever to extracting the maximum from each of its components. We have worked hard on all control strategies and procedures to ensure that every component can function at every track and event. Reliability remains a top priority and we have continued to focus on preparation, quality and consistency so that we can perform at the highest level on track. The 2025 season presents some unique challenges but we are ready to face them, having paid obsessive attention to every detail. We are confident that the SF-25 will allow us to achieve our goals.”
Charles Leclerc #16
“I’m really excited about the launch of the SF-25. Every year we push hard to improve and the whole team has been working flat out for months now. Last season saw a really tight fight and we came very close to taking the title. This year, our goal is clear: we want to win the Constructors’ World Championship and my personal target is to win the Drivers’ Title. Since Lewis joined the team we have already been working very closely together and I believe that his experience and approach will prove to be a source of inspiration for me. I am physically and mentally more than ready to face this new season and I can’t wait to get on track to do everything I can to put Scuderia Ferrari HP back on top.”
Lewis Hamilton #44
“My first few weeks have been absolutely incredible and I’ve seen first-hand the passion and dedication of the entire team, so the unveiling today of my first-ever Scuderia Ferrari HP car is really exciting. So much hard work has gone into preparing for the season ahead and we couldn’t be more hungry or determined to succeed. I came into the year with so much anticipation for this new chapter, and I’m even more energized now by the spirit and belief of everyone I’ve met over the past month. I couldn’t be proud to be on this journey with them. I can’t wait to get out on track with Charles, push each other forward and do everything we can to take the team to the top.”
