Stepping in for team principal Fred Vasseur, Jerome d’Ambrosio opened up about the new floor Ferrari introduced in Spielberg and their plans for future SF-25 upgrades after securing a solid 3-4 finish at the F1 Austrian GP on Sunday.
The revised floor appears to have addressed some of the Scuderia’s woes over a single lap, with Charles Leclerc managing to qualify on the front row ahead of a McLaren and Lewis Hamilton qualifying in fourth place.
At the Red Bull Ring, both drivers experienced a rather lonely two-stop race as their nearest rival, George Russell, struggled for pace in the warmer conditions. Leclerc eventually scored his third podium in four races, and Hamilton took the chequered flag in P4.
Ferrari upgrade delivering what expected
Speaking in a print media session after the race, Jerome d’Ambrosio shared his thoughts on the new floor upgrade and what feedback Ferrari have gathered from the track at the F1 Austrian GP on Sunday. Stating that the package has met their expectations, he confirmed that they have taken a step forward in performance.
“So, the feedback is that it has basically delivered what it was supposed to deliver, which is important and it’s a step forward.”
Balance between progress in 2025 and development for 2026
In terms of whether the Italian outfit has more upgrades in the pipeline for the upcoming races, Jerome d’Ambrosio refused to divulge Ferrari’s development trajectory for the second half of the season.
Nonetheless, emphasising the new regulations that are coming into effect in 2026, the 39-year-old commented after the F1 Austrian GP that they are focusing on striking a balance between making further progress in 2025 and allocating the resources necessary for their upcoming campaign.
“And then in terms of future development, obviously I’m not gonna unfold how we’re gonna approach the next six months right here. But let’s say that obviously we’re in a phase of the season where we need to and actually it’s something that we’ve been thinking about since the beginning of the year.
“’26 is a big change. There’s ’25 also. We want to make progress, we want to continue to move forward, balancing the two, and it would be something that we’re taking into consideration.”
New floor simply an evolution
Asked if the new floor has cured some of the core weaknesses they have encountered all season or if the solution is reliant on some mechanical upgrades Ferrari might introduce in the next two races, Jerome d’Ambrosio clarified that the updated floor doesn’t represent a radical change in the design philosophy of the SF-25. Additionally, he revealed that their Austrian GP upgrade has merely generated more downforce, which they had aimed to produce.
Furthermore, the deputy team principal proclaimed that Ferrari are concentrating their efforts into improving the SF-25 all round despite the conundrum they face with regard to prioritising the development of their 2026 car.
“The floor was an evolution of the current philosophy. There was no drastic change in approach or in philosophy on the car. It was just adding a bit of downforce and that’s what we did.
“We’ll see, there’s obviously a lot of things that we’re working on in the background on every aspect of the car and we want to move forward.
“Again it’s an important consideration between the challenge of next year and between this year’s challenge, but if we can and what we do in the factory is to try to push the boundaries and improve the car, so let’s see.”
