Ferrari unveil highly anticipated ride-height solution at Spa

Matthew Somerfield 25 Jul 2025 1:15 PM

Ferrari has arrived at the Belgian Grand Prix with their long-awaited rear suspension update, as they look to improve their ride height window and, with that, the SF-25’s high-speed cornering capabilities.

It’s not the first time that Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton will have had a taster of the updated geometry either, as they’ve not only put it through its paces on the simulator, it was also given an outing at their filming day, at Mugello, last week.

Worth the wait?..

The arrival of this new suspension arrangement should come as no shock to anyone around the sport, as it’s been on the cards for some time, with Ferrari having done their due diligence before putting it into production.

However, the timing of its arrival is a little unfortunate, as whilst the drivers have sampled the car with it installed, during the aforementioned filming day, this weekend being a Sprint event does leave them a little short-handed in terms of having time to collect feedback and data, before being thrown into a competitive session.

Free Practice One will be critical then, with the team and drivers hoping for trouble free running throughout, whilst the uncertainty of the weather around Spa could also add some jeopardy into their decision making process.

The most apparent change to the suspension layout is the position of the lead arm of the upper wishbone (green arrow), with the inboard end now slung lower and further forward than it was in the past, which is similar to the approach that has already been taken by many of their rivals.

There’s several other subtle adjustments that have been made too, including the narrowing of the gap between the lowermost elements, as the team looks to improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the fairings that wrap around each suspension member.

In reality though, the update is as much about improving the SF-25’s ride height behaviour, something which caught them out earlier in the season and led to Lewis Hamilton being disqualified in China.

This has led to the team having to compromise their performance in the aftermath, as they haven’t been able to run the car as low as they’d have liked in order to maximise performance from the floor.

Given the changes made to airflow structures in their vicinity, Ferrari have also made changes to the rear brake duct winglets, with both the upper and lower cascades altered.

Meanwhile, there’s also a new lower downforce rear wing upper flap, with a trimmed trailing edge, been added to their availability pool in Spa, in order to help with the circuit’s characteristics and provide further options for the remaining races on the calendar.

Both the trimmed and non-trimmed versions were tested during FP1, as seen on Leclerc and Hamilton’s car respectively, above. The trimmed variant not only does away with the trailing edge Gurney flap, the carbon fibre material above the white livery has also been trimmed (green arrow), in order to boost straightline speed at the cost of some balance.

Ferrari