At the start of the 2025 season, many fans and experts believed Ferrari would be one of the top teams to beat. After finishing the 2024 season strongly and fighting for the championship right up to the final race, there was real hope that the Italian team could build on that and challenge for the title again, especially with Lewis Hamilton newly onboard. However, just two races into the new season, things haven’t gone as expected.

Ferrari currently sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, a surprising and disappointing position for a team of its calibre. They’re already 61 points behind McLaren, which shows just how far off the pace they’ve been.

While some of the poor results can be blamed on bad luck, such as missed opportunities in Australia and a double disqualification in China, the bigger issue seems to be the performance of the car itself.

This year's car, known as the SF-25, has shown signs of promise. Charles Leclerc topped a practice session in Melbourne, and Lewis Hamilton won the Sprint race in Shanghai. But these moments haven’t translated into consistent success across full race weekends. The car’s pace simply hasn’t been strong or reliable enough.

One of the main problems Ferrari is facing is inconsistency. The car’s performance seems to swing from good to poor depending on the track and the session, which makes it difficult to compete with more stable teams like Red Bull or McLaren.

The team has made some progress compared to last year, especially in high-speed corners, but that improvement appears to have come at a cost. They are now struggling more in low and medium-speed sections, which are a crucial part of many F1 circuits.

Leclerc, quoted by Motorsport Week, explained: “It’s never really one thing. If we look at qualifying in Melbourne, McLaren were very strong compared to us in the last sector, which could be more about tyres than anything else.

“If you look at the race, it’s completely different. We were just lacking speed overall – whether it’s low or high speed, or tyre degradation. It was basically all in one.”

To make things worse, in the Chinese Grand Prix, Leclerc suffered damage to his front wing after a first-lap collision with Hamilton, which made the car even harder to drive. He lost one of his endplates, which is a small but important aerodynamic piece and that caused a drop in downforce, making it tougher to handle the car and causing the front tyres to wear out even more quickly. Despite that, Leclerc managed to be the fastest Ferrari driver during the race, though his fifth-place finish was later taken away due to disqualification.

Reflecting on the race, Leclerc said: “I think we were generally quick. We saw it in the Sprint with Lewis, and towards the end of the stint I felt very strong. All in all, I think we had a really good race car.”

However, the damage clearly affected him: “I was destroying the fronts and losing 30 points of downforce is a huge amount. I do not expect a car to be faster like that – otherwise, we have a problem.”

Still, there are some positives. Leclerc mentioned he had made a step forward in understanding the car, and that there’s more potential to unlock. “Today I did a step with the car and I think that made it a lot better. I felt there was a lot more potential.” But until the team solves its balance and tyre wear issues, that potential will remain just...potential.

In summary, Ferrari’s main challenge in 2025 is finding consistency and fixing the weaknesses in their car’s performance. While they’ve made gains in certain areas, they’ve lost ground in others, particularly in slower corners and tyre management.

As Leclerc summed up: “High speed, I think we did a big step forward. Low and medium speed seems to be the area where we need to work more for now.”