Frédéric Vasseur has returned to speaking about the 2025 Formula 1 season, with the Ferrari Team Principal analysing the key decision that shaped the Scuderia’s campaign.
Ferrari ended the 2025 season in fourth place in the constructors’ championship, after spending a long phase of the year running just behind McLaren in the standings. The SF-25 never truly showed major peaks in performance, with the notable exception of the Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix. Fred Vasseur took responsibility for a decision that had a significant impact on Ferrari’s Formula 1 results.
The Scuderia dedicated a considerable amount of resources, effort and energy to the 2026 project, which is set to make its first on-track appearance in just a few days. However, during the first test session in Barcelona, Ferrari will use a different car compared to the one that will be seen in Bahrain. The initial focus, as admitted by the Team Principal himself, will be reliability. The engines represent the biggest novelty of the new regulations, and teams will immediately be looking for confirmation that the work carried out so far is heading in the right direction.
The halt to Ferrari’s upgrades
On several occasions, Fred Vasseur stated that the team decided to stop development already in the early part of the 2025 Formula 1 season. The reason was the clear dominance shown by McLaren from the very first Grand Prix in Melbourne. This choice was also shared with the drivers, in order to concentrate as effectively as possible on the 2026 car.
“It was for a good reason,” the Frenchman admitted when speaking about the decision not to introduce further upgrades. “It was my decision and I take full responsibility for the fact that we were focused on 2026.” Inevitably, Ferrari paid the price for a large portion of the season spent without bringing significant developments to the car. This direction played a major role in the final standings, with the Scuderia finishing behind the other three top teams.
The difficulties of 2025
Continuing the conversation with F1 presenter Lawrence Barretto, the discussion turned to the problems caused by this decision. “I underestimated the psychological effect of this choice on the team, on the drivers and on myself,” Fred Vasseur admitted.
In any case, for Ferrari, especially in the second half of the season, it was not only a question of a lack of upgrades. “In the end it was a difficult season. We also lost some opportunities due to various incidents and disqualifications. This put us in an even more complicated situation,” he added.
As the focus now shifts entirely to the upcoming season, the gamble taken by Maranello remains one of the biggest talking points in the paddock. Whether the decision to sacrifice 2025 will pay off in the form of a championship-contending car for the new era is a question that only the first few rounds of the 2026 calendar can answer. For the Tifosi, the hope is that this strategic “step back” was simply the necessary momentum needed for Ferrari to finally return to the very top of the podium.
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