Ferrari test 2025 F1 car for first time with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in Fiorano shakedown
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc give new SF-25 its track bow; Hamilton says "smooth" first day with Ferrari's latest challenger "massive bonus"; watch F1 pre-season testing live on Sky Sports F1 from February 26-28
Wednesday 19 February 2025 19:27, UK
Ferrari have run their new 2025 car, the SF-25, on track for the first time in a shakedown in Italy - a challenger they have described as being "completely new" ahead of Lewis Hamilton's maiden season in red.
Fresh from their appearance at Tuesday night's F1 season launch event at London's O2 when the car's latest livery was displayed on a show car, the Scuderia were back on home soil on Wednesday morning for the first laps in their actual 2025 machine.
With new signing Hamilton watching on from the garage at their Fiorano test track, Charles Leclerc completed the first laps in the SF-25.
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Hamilton then took over the car for his own run in the afternoon, ahead of the seven-time world champion speaking to the media later in the day for the first time as a Ferrari driver.
Under F1's regulations for promotional running days, Ferrari were able to complete a 200km shakedown with the car ahead of the start of official pre-season testing next week, which takes place in Bahrain on February 26-28 - live on Sky Sports F1.
Smooth first day with new car 'massive bonus' - Hamilton
"Today's been great," Hamilton said in an interview with Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz after his first laps in the SF-25.
"Firstly, the amount of work that has gone in to be able to get the car to this point is huge for every team. It's been massively exciting to be at the track just outside of the race bays, literally just outside of the factory, is so unique and there's so much history here. It's been absolutely awesome.
"Plus we had a crowd - the fans that have turned up here, it feels like you are at a racetrack. It's incredible the support that we get here.
"The car has run smoothly. We didn't have any hiccups, so that's a massive bonus to have a dry day and a smooth-running day to just allow ourselves time and space to acclimatise to the new car."
The SF-25 on track - Hamilton and Leclerc debut new car
What's changed on Ferrari's 2025 car?
Although F1's technical regulations for 2025 are largely static, Ferrari have made one significant change to their car by switching from push to pull-road front suspension in order to open up more avenues for aerodynamic development.
Explaining the notable change to the front of the car, Ferrari said in a statement: "The thinking behind this change in architecture was to clean up the airflow around the car, while also giving greater scope for further aero development, which had pretty much been exhausted with the previous iteration.
"The car is an evolution from every aspect when compared to last year's, which provided a good starting point.
"It was designed with the aim of maximising the development potential of the car, in a season when, thanks to the long stability of the regulations now in their final year, one can expect the field to be extremely evenly matched with just thousandths of a second in lap time making the difference."
Ferrari chase 'marginal gains' to end long title wait
Team boss Frederic Vasseur has already made clear they start the year with the "aim of winning both titles" having finished last season strongly, ending up just 14 points behind new constructors' champions McLaren.
The Scuderia are the most-successful team in F1 history but last won either world title - the constructors' - in 2008, with their most-recent Drivers' Championship achieved with Kimi Raikkonen the year before.
On the SF-25 itself, chassis technical director Loic Serra said: "We have worked hard, changing 99 per cent of the car, evolving its architecture to maximise performance.
"The pull rod front suspension is only the most obvious of many significant changes. We can expect the coming season to be very closely contested, with outcomes decided by thousandths of a second.
"We are all set to give it our best shot to find those gains, even the marginal ones, that can make the difference. We are looking forward to being competitive right from the very first race."
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