Former long-serving Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley analysed Ferrari’s switch to a pull-rod front suspension as a “big change” and a “quite incredible” one for what is a transitional year.

And Smedley also warned that this move can have an adverse impact on vehicle dynamics, that verdict coming while F1 racer and pundit Alex Brundle – son of Martin Brundle – had observed the SF-25 as looking “really nasty” in the hands of Lewis Hamilton on the final day of Bahrain testing.

Smedley delves into new-look Ferrari and Aston Martin cars
After narrowly missing out on the F1 2024 Constructors’ title to McLaren, Ferrari has not stood still going into the final year of these regulations, putting together an SF-25 which team principal Fred Vasseur had described as “completely new”.

And at the three-day Bahrain test, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner highlighted the Ferrari as the “differentiator” in a grid of cars all looking “very similar” for F1 2025.

Where it will fall out in the pecking order remains to be seen, but as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has “been saying quite a few times, we still have quite a bit of work to be to be ready for Melbourne”, where the season gets underway in two weeks’ time.

And it was on Day 3 in Bahrain – when Ferrari’s new recruit, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton was contesting the final session with the SF-25 – that Brundle made some interesting comments as he watched on trackside.

“That Ferrari looks really difficult to drive this afternoon,” he said on Sky F1’s coverage. “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.”

Whether that “nasty” setup had anything to do with Ferrari switching from a push-rod to pull-rod front suspension among their SF-25 changes, is of course unclear, but Smedley warned that “slightly worse” vehicle dynamics is “usually” a symptom of such a move.

During the Formula For Success podcast, 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard said he “could never feel any difference” as a driver between a push and pull-rod front suspension, so asked Smedley what the stimulus would be for Ferrari making that change for one year only, or if they could carry it over into the new regulatory era from F1 2026.

“I mean, whether or not it carries into ’26, Ferrari might have some concept design of a pull-rod front suspension that they want to just get some experience with,” Smedley began in reply.

“It feels like it would be something that you would do for ’25, learning for ’26, or at least to make a decision about ’26. You could make a more rational decision.

“But I think going back to the point that you just made DC, which I think is a really interesting one. You listen to the noises coming out of Ferrari, and they’re saying that that car is, you know, almost a new car, and a big change, right?

“Even though the the pull-rod suspension will be fairly innocuous for the drivers, there’s not much feeling for the drivers, and there’s not much feeling from a vehicle dynamics point of view… In fact, it’s usually slightly worse, because the mass is slightly higher for a pull-rod suspension rather than push-rod at the front end, at least, depending on the chassis height.

“So it can be a little bit worse.

“So they must have found something that they want to do in terms of aerodynamics. But, that’s a big change to make in a year like this.”

Like Ferrari, Aston Martin has also unleashed the changes with their AMR25, going down an almost completely new aerodynamic route.

Under the stewardship of billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll, heavy investment has been pumped into the team, leading to a new factory, windtunnel and the signing of F1 design guru Adrian Newey.

And in the final year with these rules, before the new chassis and engines arrive for F1 2026, Smedley says it is “quite incredible” how much work teams like Ferrari and Aston Martin can do considering the circumstances.

Smedley continued: “And if they’re talking that the car is almost all-new, you know, Andy Cowell, from Aston Martin [team principal], was saying the same things that the car, from an aerodynamic point of view, is completely new.

“Aston Martin have famously, publicly, let’s say, over the last few years, made a huge investment into their campus and their capability and how they’re going about Formula 1.

“’23 was a great year, started off really well, they got all those podiums. It kind of tailed off towards the end. ’24 was less good. They want to now see the recovery.

“I’m sure that Lawrence Stroll and his team of senior managers, they want to see that the work that they’ve put in, the investment that they put in, is starting to bear some fruit.

“They’ll have some targets of where they want to get to in ’25, but definitely, this is a preparation year for ’26.

“But again, it just shows like the top teams at the front that can do this amount of work in what is a transition year, it’s quite incredible.”