Will Ferrari's special update finally give Hamilton a performance boost?

Having started the season with the ambition of winning—or at least fighting for—both titles against McLaren after last year’s down-to-the-wire battle, Ferrari was soon forced to take a step back and scale down its expectations for the 2025 campaign.

The SF-25, Ferrari’s first car built with Lewis Hamilton in mind, has so far fallen short of the high expectations set at the start of the season.

However, the car has shown signs of improvement in recent races, as evidenced by Charles Leclerc’s three podiums from Monaco to the Red Bull Ring.

Ferrari’s engineers had long been working on an updated rear suspension, a significant evolution from the version that debuted in Australia.

That upgrade finally made its track debut today at the Mugello circuit, with Charles Leclerc behind the wheel during the morning session.

It’s an upgrade Ferrari is placing a great deal of hope in, aiming to finally unlock the full potential the SF-25 has shown in flashes—though inconsistently—throughout the season.

While the Monegasque driver took to the track this morning, it will be Lewis Hamilton’s turn in the afternoon. So far, he’s been the one struggling the most to adapt to Ferrari’s new car.

The Scuderia heads into this test off the back of a solid showing at Silverstone—not so much in terms of the final result, which was affected by the rain, but in the strong dry-weather performance displayed by both drivers.

Both Hamilton and Leclerc were in the fight for pole position right up to the final corner at Silverstone, but a pair of mistakes at that very turn ultimately cost them a shot at the front row.

At Spa, just over a week from now, Ferrari will finally have the chance to see whether the new suspension can deliver the step forward they need to start challenging McLaren more consistently for race wins.