ANALYSIS: Ferrari elect to run the most loaded rear wing in Jeddah
With the Jeddah Corniche street circuit rewarding the aerodynamic efficiency, F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo takes a look at the aerodynamic configuration pursued by the top teams in Saudi Arabia.
Round 5 of the 2025 F1 season takes place at the Jeddah Corniche street circuit, notable for high speeds and the technical challenges it throws up for drivers and teams.
Running alongside the Red Sea, the 6.174 kilometre track is the second longest on the Formula 1 calendar after Spa-Francorchamps. It boasts 27 corners and holds the Formula 1 record for the highest number of direction changes.
The challenging circuit has the characteristics of a street circuit, but in reality it is a permanent facility located in the city, with long flowing corners and several high speed sections, with an average lap speed of over 250 km/h between the concrete barriers.
There are three DRS zones, which make for plenty of overtaking opportunities. The first is on the main straight, the second is between turns 19 and 22 and the third on the back straight that leads onto the final hairpin before the start-finish line.
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit rewards aero efficiency: low drag through the long full-throttle sections while downforce is required through the series of fast corners.
Among the top teams, Ferrari appear to have mounted the most loaded rear wing in Jeddah. The Scuderia has brought an upgraded rear wing to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, introducing a modified, decambered, shorter chord top rear wing flap element. Interestingly, Leclerc used the new rear wing in both practice sessions while Hamilton's SF25 was equipped with the new configuration for the second hour of running.
Even by trimming the top edge of the flap, Ferrari's rear wing is still the most loaded among the four top teams due to its loaded V-shaped mainplane. Despite the higher rear wing, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc achieved top speeds of 332kph and 331kph respectively.
Commenting on its new rear wing, the Scuderia noted: "Adapting to the peculiarities of the Jeddah circuit aerodynamic efficiency requirements, this option is adding granularity in the available downforce level options on the baseline rear wing."
McLaren have equipped Lando Norris' and Oscar Piastri's MCL39 with its medium-downforce rear wing, but it still struggled for top speed. The Briton and the Australian recorded a top speed of 328kph and 327 kph respectively while Nico Hulkenberg was 8kph faster through the speed trap.
Red Bull were equal with Ferrari in terms of top speed while Mercedes were a few kphs down on the Milton Keynes-based and the Maranello-based outfits.
