What a difference an F1 rule change can make. With Mercedes having dominated Formula One for the best part of a decade, the biggest regulation change in living memory back in 2022 heralded an era of revival for Ferrari, or so it seemed.

With Verstappen installed as the latest Formula One champion, the 2022 season was heralded as time for ’all change’ and Ferrari hopes were high with the development of their F1-75. The name of their F1 car that year was a nod to the 75 years since the very first Ferrari production car rolled out of the factory in Italy.

The F1-75 was labelled ‘the bathtub’ from the style of its uniquely shaped side pods and early season promise in 2022 appeared promising for the Scuderia. First time out in Bahrain saw the first win for Ferrari in two and a half years, as Charles Leclerc converted pole position to the win under the lights in the desert.

 

 

 

Fragile power unit costs SF-75

Carlos Sainz made it a 1-2 for the Scuderia as both Red Bull cars retired due to mechanical issues, and at the dawn of a new regulations era F1 observers appeared to garner hope of a changing of the guard from the dominance of the Silver Arrows epoch.

Yet the F1-75 was to suffer almost as badly as Mercedes with porpoising, a phenomena last seen in the 1980’s when ground effect cars were all the rage. Red Bull’s Adrian Newey was cutting his teeth in F1 engineering during the first F1 ground effect era and so the Red bull cars came out of the box, with fewer concerns over the bouncing their rivals were experiencing.

Yet Ferrari with its slim line turbo power unit packed a punch out of the slower corners and this appeared to give them an advantage over the overweight Red Bull. Whilst Max Verstappen came back strongly in Saudi Arabia to take the win, it was Charles Leclerc who was hot on his tail at the chequered flag and come round three in Australia, the monegasque driver again dominated from pole as Verstappen suffered his second DNF in Melbourne in three seasons.

Leclerc’s lead was now 46 points as F1 returned to the recently revived Imola and with history on his side it appeared to all the world that Ferrari would take their first driver’s title since Kimi Raikkonen back in 2007.

Red Bull shock: What went wrong?

 

 

 

Verstappen turns around big deficit

Yet this was as good as it got for the F1-75 and the Scuderia, with Leclerc making a driver error in Imola and his late spin saw him fall through the field to finish just sixth. Come the Spanish Grand Prix worse was to befall Leclerc who was leading the race comfortably when he suffered an engine failure handing victory to Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver who just three races earlier was trailing Leclerc by almost two complete Grand Prix victories now topped the driver’s championship after inheriting hi victory in Barcelona. Verstappen has remained at the top of the F1 standings ever since, and now holds the record the longest stay at the head of the F1 field.

Yet the F1-75 in the hands of Leclerc was not yet done and in treacherous conditions in Monaco, once again the home boy was leading the race. Yet the first of a number of chaotic Ferrari pit stops that year cost Leclerc dear as he fell to fourth in the field where he would finish the race outside the podium positions.

An engine failure in Baku rang the warning bells in Maranello whose engineers realised there was a design fragility in the F1-75’s power unit, which they then ran at less than full power for the remainder of the year.

Announcement to worry Verstappen

 

 

 

Sainz ‘special farewell’ in SF-75

Whilst this proved a turning point for Ferrari they managed to claim two further victories that season, with Carlos Sainz cruising to victory in Silverstone and Leclerc taking the chequered flag in Austria, but it was Verstappen reeling off sight victories in nine successive outings which finished the argument over the championship, yet questions remain as to how good the F1-75 really was had it not suffered from power unit fragilities.

Carlos Sainz had a final outing in his car from 2022 at Fiorano in December, as the team arranged for the Spanish driver a “special farewell” before his move to Williams. Now it will be Lewis Hamilton who pilots the enigmatic F1-75 for she first drive in the red coloured livery next week with his iconic number 44 emblazoned on the nose cone.

Whether the F1-75 was a championship winning car design is a debate which continues amongst the tifosi to this day. Under the FIA’s testing of previous cars regulation Ferrari’s 2023 F1 car – the SF-23 – is now available for private testing and so Hamilton’s run at Fiorano will almost certainly be the final outing for the controversial SF-75.

New fling rumours surround Hamilton

 

 

 

Hamilton to make history

With a huge new car design regulation coming in 2026, most the the F1 field will opt for an evolution of their 2024 racing machines rather than a full redesign, yet Ferrari have already announced they will return to a pull rod front suspension system for this year’s design.

This is due to the fact that Hamilton and Leclerc have more similar driving styles than did Sainz and the Monegasque driver and the team feel both with benefit from a return to a suspension system they last used in 2017.

As F1’s most successful driver joins the sport’s most successful team, anticipation is high for a revival in Maranello this year. That said there is the small matter of the racey Charles Leclerc who stands in Hamilton’s way, and with 26 poles positions to his name the Monegasque will challenge the sport’s best ever qualifiers over a single lap, which may decide the pecking order which evolves the 2025 Ferrari team.

Hamilton replacement drives Mercedes for the first time

 

 

 

Sauber turmoil as Audi smells the roses

Since the global financial crisis in the naughties, Formula One has existed on the brink of losing some of its manufacturers. Within two years back in 2008, both Honda and Toyota withdrew their teams from the sport which they deemed too expensive and not reflecting the values of their road car businesses.

The current grid in F1 is the smallest its ever been and the FIA have been on a decade long charm offensive to attract new manufacturers into the sport. The current V6 turbo hybrid monster power units were driven by road car manufacturers vision of the future, one which now in Europe at least appears to be doomed given the push for total electric.

Most hybrid road car models in the UK will be banned from new in 2030 come the current Labour governments plans, yet Formula One has committed to the technology beyond that timescale…. READ MORE