Formula 1 News: Ferrari working to fix simulator data flaw

(GMM) Ferrari has been hard at work in the Maranello simulator to fix a flaw that reportedly led to an inappropriate setup baseline in Melbourne, according to Italy’s La Repubblica.

All the pre-season hype of a potential world championship challenge for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fizzled last weekend as the 2025 season began in Australia.

“We made a mistake with the setup,” team boss Frederic Vasseur lamented.

Ahead of this weekend’s Chinese GP, insiders are reporting that Ferrari’s simulator churned out incorrect numbers before Melbourne, leading to flawed ride height settings and the wrong rear wing selection.

The problem, however, could be even deeper than that.

“I spoke to Fred Vasseur,” former Haas boss Gunther Steiner told f1-insider.com. “He was a bit disappointed with the development over the winter. He also thought they were closer.”

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher is concerned that a third consecutive failure for Vasseur to deliver a title-winning car could spell trouble for his position.

“I strongly assume – if they don’t move in the direction of the world championship and aren’t fighting for many victories – that Ferrari will turn over every single stone,” he told Sky Deutschland.

“That would be a great shame, as I believe Fred Vasseur is the right person at the right place.”

Another factor is 40-year-old Hamilton’s failure so far to deliver on the hype of his move from Mercedes. “The honeymoon is over,” Steiner declared after Melbourne. “Now he has to perform.”

The seven time world champion admitted he is still adjusting to a vastly different car, but there were also obvious signs of tension between Hamilton and his race engineer, the experienced Riccardo Adami, on the radio in Melbourne.

Hamilton told reporters Adami – whose previously race engineered for Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel before that – “did his best” in Australia.

“Generally, I’m not one that likes a lot of information in the race, unless I need it – I’ll ask for it,” he said. “But he did his best, and we’ll move forwards.”

Schumacher warns that even Hamilton cannot get too comfortable in red.

“At Ferrari, no one is safe,” he said, “and that also applies to the drivers.”