Dec.20 (GMM) Frederic Vasseur says Ferrari’s car for the 2025 season will be “completely new”.
It’s a surprising statement, given the Maranello based team’s end-of-season competitiveness and the fact that 2025 is the final year of the existing regulations before the all-new chassis and engine rules for 2026.
Christian Horner, for instance, was asked whether Red Bull’s 2025 car will be evolutionary or revolutionary, and he admitted: “It will be a bit of both.
“There will be developments in different areas of the car and major changes in others,” he said, noting that it will be the first Red Bull that Adrian Newey did not design.
“The team has to rise to the challenge and I’m confident they will. We’ll see what the RB21 looks like when it’s unveiled at the end of January.”
However, Horner’s counterpart at Ferrari says the Italian team has a very different approach to 2025.
“We are in the fourth year of applying these regulations and we know our previous project very well,” said Vasseur. “That is why the 2025 car will be completely new.”
He added that the 2025 Ferrari “will share less than 1 percent” with the red single seater that was raced by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc this season.
Spanish broadcaster DAZN believes the changes include a cockpit position change, as per Lewis Hamilton’s request, which also means changes to the engine mounting and a shorter gearbox. Additionally, a move to McLaren-style pull-rod front suspension is expected, as well as Mercedes-like brake cooling.
But although Vasseur seems to have been receptive to Hamilton’s cockpit position request, the Frenchman says the seven time world champion will not be bringing any engineers with him from Mercedes.
“No,” he insisted, “because we have no intention of replicating Mercedes here at Ferrari. We have our guys and the right resources to win, so let’s work to create an original. I don’t want a copy.
“He will bring his own experiences and background, but that doesn’t mean we have to change our approach. I think Lewis will understand that perfectly,” Vasseur added.
“I know Lewis very well, but we must not copy and paste from Mercedes. The working environment there was very good at the beginning and less good at the end. They are not the champions. We must do something different.”