Haas 2025 F1 car will feature a different design as the team makes a bold decision to break away from its long-standing tradition of adopting Ferrari’s latest suspension components.
The American racing outfit known for its close technical partnership with Ferrari has chosen to carry over the 2024 front suspension design, marking a pivotal moment in the team’s technical development approach.
Team Principal Ayao Komatsu revealed that Haas 2025 F1 car – the VF-25 – will not adopt the new Ferrari front suspension as a means to avoid significant aerodynamic adjustments that could potentially disrupt the car’s development trajectory.
The choice was not made lightly but was the result of extensive technical analysis conducted by Haas’s top engineering minds, including Technical Director Andrea De Sordo, Head of Aerodynamics Davide Paganelli, and Performance Director Damien Brayshaw.
Komatsu explained the rationale behind this strategic decision, emphasizing that it represents a departure from the team’s previous nine-season practice of automatically accepting Ferrari’s latest technical supply.
“The design change on Haas 2025 F1 car marks a significant moment in my mind, because so far in nine seasons we always went with Ferrari’s latest supply and not because that was the informed choice, because that was the safest and easiest choice,” said Komatsu via The Race.
“It’s not like this year we wanted to make a point, but Andrea, Davide and Damien came to me and said this was the right decision. They’ve been talking about this for the last few seasons, but we never actually did carry over the front suspension.
“But when they looked at it properly in terms of, ‘OK, if we buy the new Ferrari front suspension, when are we going to have the information available and what does that mean in terms of the aero hit?’ because you have to take a hit first, you have to recover.
“So comparing that and how much potential that unlocks against [the benefit if you] don’t stop development because we carry over the front suspension.
“They’ve done the proper study and the conclusion was we should do a carryover. Then we had the confidence to then go for that decision, whereas before we didn’t.”
The decision comes at a critical juncture for the team with the 2025 F1 season serving as the final year of the current Formula 1 regulations before the significant rule changes in 2026.
Komatsu stressed that this is not a concession to future developments, but a calculated move to maximize the team’s competitiveness in the immediate term.
“At the end of the day, we have to be competitive in 2025 F1 as well,” said Komatsu. “It’s not like we can say we’re focusing on ’26 so we write off ’25, that was the excuse in previous times but it cannot happen.
“So we said, ‘To be the best in ’25, which is the best solution?’ And then after the proper study, their recommendation was we should go with the carryover. So I said, ‘Good, go for it’.”
Chassis change for 2025 F1
While rejecting the new pull-rod Ferrari front suspension design, the Haas 2025 F1 car will simultaneously take a progressive approach with its chassis. The team has identified limitations in the VF-24’s chassis that hindered mid-season upgrades in 2024, prompting a complete overhaul of the monocoque for the VF-25.
Komatsu highlighted specific performance constraints that prevented planned upgrades for crucial races like Silverstone and Austin, which ultimately drove the decision to develop a new chassis.
“We developed the car pretty well last year, but there are certain limitations that we had to accept,” Komatsu explained.
“And then things we learned mid-season about how to unlock performance – even what we wanted to do for Silverstone and Austin but we couldn’t do because of the limitation of the chassis design.
“So we decided to make changes to the car.”
Despite choosing to ditch the new suspension, Haas 2025 F1 car will continue using Ferrari’s rear suspension and gearbox.
Haas VF-25 launch date and debut
Like the rest of the F1 paddock, Haas 2025 F1 car will be officially unveiled at the O2 on February 18, as part of F175. However, Komatsu explained that the car will get a prior run-out, at Silverstone on February 16.
“So, we’ll do a filming day in Silverstone first, and then go to Bahrain [and] do a filming day in Bahrain,” he said. “The filming day in Bahrain is two days before the official test starts.”
The second filming day will therefore take place on February 24, with pre-season commencing on February 26.
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