where SF25 lost to RB21 in Suzuka Q3

Ferrari gave its best in the qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix, but it wasn’t enough. In Formula 1, every small detail makes a difference, and today, the precision of the Italian side wasn’t present. We are therefore talking about the third qualifying session where the Maranello team will start from behind, fourth with Charles Leclerc, and even eighth with Lewis Hamilton. Yes, because while the Monegasque driver limited the damage, his teammate didn’t have a good feel for the SF-25, and he himself mentioned it in front of the microphones.

From the general overview of the telemetry regarding the top three finishers in the morning session of the Suzuka Grand Prix, we start with the analysis between Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Charles Leclerc. This trio reveals some rather interesting details, which, on one hand, help us understand where the Dutchman’s pole position was built, by just 0.012 seconds, while on the other hand, it shows where the Maranello team showed signs of improvement, despite continuing to highlight some limits.

The four-time Formula 1 world champion put together three virtually perfect sectors. The advantage over Lando Norris, although minimal, was built entirely in the last chicane: a key point where the difference is made by confidence in the technical package. In the last corner, in fact, the Dutchman is the driver who can brake the latest.

He manages to be very aggressive on the curb at the entry, using it with surgical precision, and then has excellent traction on the exit. Not by chance, he is the driver with the highest full-throttle percentage of the top three, a sign of exceptional acceleration by the Red Bull in the exit phases. This is the section that allowed him to make the difference: the RB21 car is extremely well balanced in the transition between braking and traction.

Overall, McLaren and Red Bull show very similar characteristics: both packages are able to generate significant aerodynamic load, especially in the 180-200 kilometers per hour corners that define the Suzuka circuit. The difference between the two right now seems more related to driver confidence in their own car. Ferrari, on the other hand, with Charles Leclerc, likely extracted the maximum in terms of grid position.

Perhaps he could have gained a few more tenths, considering that his ideal lap is 0.120 seconds faster than his Q3 lap. But from the telemetry, it is clear that the SF-25 is the car that suffers the most from understeering, as already noticed in yesterday’s first free practice session, a phenomenon that was less pronounced and bothersome, thanks to some adjustments made to the setup of the Ferrari car.

In the snake section, the Monegasque driver is the only one to repeatedly touch the brake to load the front and take the optimal racing line: obviously, this penalizes him in the cornering phase, making it less fluid. Understeering also appears at Turn 11, a point where he worked with his Ferrari race engineer to recover valuable tenths, correcting it, but not enough. Only at this point did he lose a tenth and a half.

There have undoubtedly been improvements, and we assume that Ferrari’s engineers and technicians have worked on two major areas of the SF-25 car: the rear anti-roll bar and the differential. Stiffening the rear anti-roll bar could be a good starting point to correct the understeering in high-speed corners, likely encountered during the final free practice session when the mechanics worked on the rear end of car number 16.

This modification could help load the front during direction changes, increasing responsiveness and aiding in rotation through greater sliding of the rear axle. Naturally, it is essential to find the right compromise, as too much stiffness at the rear could lead to oversteering, a factor that emerged at one point during FP3 but was quickly corrected. Regarding the differential, the Maranello team decided to work on the entry and mid-corner phases to minimize the understeering present at low speeds, as we often noticed at the hairpin of Turn 11. To achieve more rotation on corner entry, it is necessary to reduce the so-called “locking in coast,” meaning to open the differential more.

This move allows the wheels to “free up” during release and makes the car rotate much better. In the mid-corner phase, however, the preload tends to be reduced, which is the “minimum tension” of the differential that keeps it slightly closed even when not accelerating. Reducing it, in this case, helps the rear axle’s freedom of rotation.

Overall Ferrari’s path seems to be the right one. Looking more closely at the telemetry of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, it is noticeable that in the snake section, up to Turn 6, the SF-25 is not bad at all. Despite the rotation issues already highlighted, the delta time and cornering speeds are extremely similar to those of the RB21 single-seater. Of course, the driving style between the two is different, with the Monegasque balancing the car by combining the brake and accelerator, thereby reducing the throttle lift.

While the Dutchman is smoother in his driving, using only his right foot to correct weight transfer in the various direction changes. From Turn 7 onwards, the gap begins to form, as Charles Leclerc is forced to lift the throttle by 25% in order to avoid going too wide, losing 3 kilometers per hour, which he carries through to Turn 8, where once again, understeering makes its presence felt.

The Ferrari driver thus has to aim the nose toward the apex of the corner, touching the brake, while Max Verstappen only needs to lift the throttle for a few meters. At Turn 11, the gap starts to become more significant, between entry and mid-corner, while on exit, the SF-25 manages to anticipate and recover a few milliseconds in the acceleration toward Spoon, where, compared to yesterday, Charles Leclerc performs much better.

The Monegasque driver approaches the apex more closely without losing his composure and doesn’t lose time to Max Verstappen. The excellent aerodynamic efficiency in terms of reduced drag allows him to recover a little in the 130R straight, only to lose everything, even two-tenths, in the last chicane, where the Dutchman works his magic: the RB21 car doesn’t lose composure on the inside curb, and even though he increases the gap, he hits the throttle with the same timing as the Ferrari driver.

Charles Leclerc gave it his all and with fewer mistakes, he could have been a little bit closer to the leaders, but gaining something in terms of grid position was not realistic. Undoubtedly, Ferrari did a good job, but it’s still not enough if the goal is to fight for the top spots in the 2025 Formula 1 world championship. The direction they have taken seems to be the right one, but it remains crucial to transfer these improvements into pure performance and consistency throughout the entire lap.

— see video above —-

Apr 5, 2025Maria Lombardi