Ferrari outlines a timeline of when the car development freeze for the 2025 F1 challenger could potentially be put in place

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur feels that the championship situation after the initial races will dictate the direction the Italian team would move in when it comes to shifting the focus entirely to 2026. The 2025 F1 season is the last year in the current set of regulations.

Any resource investment decisions for the 2025 challenger will always be made in the context of the 2026 car, which would be built on new regulations, and hence there's a larger scope for finding improvements. This year, hence, will be all about finding the balance between developing the car for the current season and allocating enough resources for 2026.

When questioned about how Ferrari is going to approach it, Fred Vasseur said that it's going to come down to where the teams are after the first 4-5 races. He told Motorsportweek,

“I think it will be the same for everybody. It’s completely true that we are in the last year of the regulation. It’s obvious for everybody that at one stage you will have to make a choice between 2026 and 2025, but I think the main driver of the choice will be the situation to the championship."

He added,

“The current car, the 2025 car, is the extension of 2024. At the end of the day, it’s always the extension of the previous one. It’s more the situation after four or five races that will dictate the situation and the choice between 2025 and 2026.”

The current set of regulations was first introduced in 2022 and is now in its most mature state. As a result, any gains that any team makes with these cars are going to be minimal, and will arguably shape the grid's pecking order.

---

Ferrari boss expects every rival to have a similar cut-off for development strategy

Further discussing the development strategies, Fred Vasseur felt that every team on the F1 grid would have the same choice in terms of taking a call on whether they want to develop the 2025 challenger or allocate resources to 2026. It would ultimately come down to where the cars are in the pecking order, and that would be the definitive factor in taking a call on something like this.

The Ferrari boss also felt that the lead time would also be taken into consideration because a lot of these parts are already planned months in advance.

“We know that the lead time is quite important for big parts and probably that in the summertime, we will all be fully focused on 2026. If you have a look at the previous change of regulation, I think it was at the end of 2021, when you had the fight between Mercedes and Red Bull, they were able to bring upgrades on the last couple of events."

He added

“You can still have one or two sessions per period of the FIA for the development of the current car, but not after September or October because it makes no sense. But again, even if you have a plan, even if you decide now that we do like this, like this, like this, let’s see after a couple of races into the championship where you are. If you are one second behind, it makes no sense to continue to develop."

Ferrari had a strong 2024 F1 season where the team finished 2nd in the championship. For the 2025 F1 season, the team would be targeting a title triumph as most of the pieces of the puzzle are now in place, and all eyes will be on their latest addition, Lewis Hamilton, to see how the Brit fares in his first season with the team.