F1 insider reveals major Ferrari misstep that has helped Red Bull and Mercedes to leapfrog the Italian team

F1 journalist and technical expert Rosario Giuliana has revealed that the major reason behind Red Bull and Mercedes leapfrogging Ferrari in 2025 has been the development of front wings. While the Italian team has made almost no changes to their front wings since Barcelona, both their closest rivals have brought several updates, making them more competitive.

Ferrari finished as the runner-up in the constructors' championship last year, and were also second in the table this year, until Mercedes overtook them at the Azerbaijan GP. After looking competitive with the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull in the early stages of the season, the Prancing Horse has now fallen well behind their rivals, especially in the last couple of races.

F1 journalist and technical expert Rosario Giuliana has revealed that the fall-off might be an aftereffect of technical directive TD018, which came into effect at the Barcelona GP in June, limiting front-wing flexing on the cars.

Giuliana, writing for The Racer, identified that Mercedes has found a way around the technical directive, where the upper flap of their front wing can still flex significantly, while still staying within the regulations.

Similarly, Red Bull has found a way to make their wings flex significantly, thanks to a different positioning of the hooks on the front wing. This has seemingly helped reduce the understeer on the RB21.

The biggest problem for Ferrari has been that they have shifted almost all of their focus to the development of the 2026 challenger. The team has not brought any significant upgrades to the SF-25 for a long time now. This means that they have not been able to address their front wing issues and have lost ground to both Red Bull and Mercedes.

Ferrari prioritized rear-suspension upgrade over aero upgrades

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur at the Singapore Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Rosario Giuliana has noted that instead of bringing an aerodynamic upgrade, Ferrari has spent all its remaining resources for 2025 on the rear-suspension upgrade, which they introduced at the Belgian GP. This did not help compensate for the loss of performance the Italian team has faced due to its front wing issues.

Chassis technical director Loic Serra and team principal Fred Vasseur reportedly approved prioritizing the rear suspension and shelving major aero upgrades in the process. Ferrari has hence completely abandoned any efforts to work on their front wing since Spain, not spending any time focusing on controlled flexibility.

And unfortunately for the Maranello-based team, the rear-suspension upgrade, which was supposed to improve braking stability, has also not worked well enough. McLaren is another team that has been caught up by the two aforementioned outfits in the last few weeks, as the Papaya squad has also halted all progress on their 2025 car.

The Woking-based team can afford the luxury of switching its focus to 2026 early, as it has had a commanding lead in the team's championship from very early on in the season.

While McLaren has secured the constructors' title at Singapore, the drivers' title is still up for grabs, and Max Verstappen could well catch up with both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with six rounds of the season to go.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam