That is the claim of former F1 technical director Gary Anderson, who says the 2025 Ferrari was not “driver friendly” at the recent pre-season test in Bahrain.
‘Problematic’ Mercedes trait spotted in Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari SF-25
Hamilton is poised to make his Ferrari debut at next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, the opening race of the F1 2025 season, after completing his high-profile move from Mercedes over the winter.
Over the course of 12 seasons at Mercedes from 2013, Hamilton cemented his status as the most decorated driver in F1 history, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of seven World Championships and surpassing 100 race wins and pole positions.
However, he has been restricted to just two wins since 2022 as Mercedes struggled to adapt to F1’s ground-effect rules.
Despite returning to winning ways in 2024 with victories in Britain and Belgium, Hamilton was heavily beaten by George Russell in qualifying conditions last season.
It prompted him to admit at the end of the year that he is simply “not fast anymore”, raising doubts over Ferrari’s decision to sign a driver who turned 40 in January.
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has given fresh hope that he could secure a record eighth title, yet the SF-25 proved a handful at last week’s three-day test in Bahrain.
PlanetF1.com’s best guess over the initial F1 2025 pecking order, based on conversations with teams across the paddock and impressions from watching the cars trackside, puts Ferrari fourth behind rivals McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes.
Writing in his column for the Telegraph, Anderson claimed that the 2025 Ferrari also lacks the “benign” characteristics Hamilton likes from a car.
He said: “From 2022-2024 he struggled to varying degrees with an unpredictable Mercedes, and last year was the low point.
“Although he won two races it was comfortably – or should that be uncomfortably – the worst season of his career.
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“It is still early days, but on first impressions it does not look as though the new Ferrari is a great upgrade on last year’s Mercedes W15.
“From the early running the SF-25 does not appear to be as driver friendly as I would expect.
“Hamilton likes a benign car from which he can extract the most from his talent and minimise lap time. It did not look that benign [in testing].
“When Hamilton drove the car it was hitting the ground quite hard and bouncing and this probably caused him to have a few minor off-track moments.
“There will always be uncertainty at this early stage of the season, yet when you see Hamilton making mistakes or running wide you can say for certain that the car is not giving him the feedback he wants.
“In short, I am not sure if he has a package – yet – better suited to him than the problematic car he drove in 2024.
“It is early days, though, and that may well come with some set-up experiments and when team-mate Charles Leclerc, who knows more how the Ferrari should feel, gets more into it.”
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Anderson’s comments come after it emerged that Leclerc also struggled with the ‘unexpected and unpredictable behaviour’ of the SF-25 in Bahrain.
A report in Italy claimed that the test sapped Leclerc’s confidence in the car, with the changes over the winter – including a return to a pullrod front suspension layout for the first time since 2015 – shifting the car’s balance from Leclerc’s preferred oversteer to understeer.
It is said that Ferrari have been working to find the root of the matter ahead of the Australian GP with ‘nothing left to chance’ by technical boss Loic Serra and his team of engineers.
With Ferrari introducing so many changes to the SF-25, it remains to be seen whether the team will have more scope for development than their rivals as the season develops.
Gaining a full understanding of the pullrod front suspension, a concept long favoured by McLaren and Red Bull, appears to be crucial to extracting the full potential from the car.
Alex Brundle, the racing driver and son of Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle, was the first to raise the alarm over the SF-25’s handling on the final day of testing in Bahrain.
Commentating on onboard footage of Hamilton’s car, Brundle noted that the SF-25 looked “really, really nasty” on track.
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He said: “That Ferrari looks really difficult to drive this afternoon. I was watching it a little earlier on.
“Exit at Turn 4, entry at Turn 11, way wide. Through the mid corner of Turn 13 as well.
“Anywhere where it’s got its tail to the wind, Hamilton is really struggling to get it into the apex.
“This is going to be a better lap for him, but it doesn’t look happy. Big understeer through the mid corner [but] it’s probably one of the better corners of [Hamilton’s] lap.
“It looks really, really nasty behind the [wheel], whatever they’ve done to that Ferrari for Hamilton, whatever they’re testing.
“Of course, you take avenues that don’t always work, but that isn’t friendly.”
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