Ferrari ‘totally reconfigured’ F1 car setup at the Dutch Grand Prix but still ‘struggled’ in one area

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Ferrari had a terrible start to the second half of the season at the Dutch Grand Prix after both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc retired.

Hamilton had a difficult weekend after struggling to optimise his car setup on Friday, spinning in both practice sessions and lapping over a second off the pace.

Things improved for Ferrari when they made it to Q3 in qualifying, but in the race, Hamilton made a mistake at Turn 3 and crashed exiting the banking.

Hamilton’s crash impacted Leclerc’s strategy as he emerged behind the Mercedes of George Russell, and despite muscling his way through to take fifth place, he would suffer a retirement when Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashed into him after misjudging an overtake on the banking.

It was a bitter blow for Ferrari, but they managed to find some answers for their recent poor form at the Dutch GP, according to journalist Mark Hughes on F1.com.

Ferrari still struggled in high-speed sections at Zandvoort

Ferrari went into the summer break with questions over their form, after a furious Leclerc was forced to give up a victory in Hungary due to a suspected plank wear issue.

It’s no secret that Ferrari have struggled to contain excessive plank wear after both drivers were disqualified at the Chinese GP for a technical infringement.

While Ferrari could run lower ride heights at Zandvoort, it led to a compromise in another area according to Hughes.

“A totally reconfigured set-up allowed the cars to run with a lower ride height without edging into excessive plank wear,” said Hughes.

“The balance of the car was far better, and although it still struggled in the high-speed sections, it was the quickest car into slow corners.”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Lewis Hamilton heads into Italian GP with grid penalty

To add to Ferrari’s misery, Hamilton heads into their home race at Monza with a grid penalty after he was found to have been speeding under double-waved yellow flags.

The infringement happened before the race had even started when Hamilton failed to reduce his speed coming off the Turn 14 banking, after the stewards felt he did not reduce his speed sufficiently.

Ferrari will be hopeful that they can produce a better race weekend in front of the Tifosi crowd, given how the last two races have panned out.

The Italian outfit have yet to win a race in 2025, but they remain in the fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship with Mercedes.