Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur’s communication style in Formula 1 as head of the Ferrari Racing Division is quite different from that of his predecessors. Can it be seen as confidence or indolence? The French manager does not appear at all disturbed by the disappointing 2025 Formula 1 season of the Prancing Horse. His is a highly coveted position when results are positive. On the other hand, when expectations are not met, the seat he occupies always feel hot. In fact, it should.
With dreams of glory quickly put aside, the head of the sporting department has never lost his composure. The issue is that 2025 was not supposed to be a year of rebuilding, but of consecration: the logical evolutionary step after the previous campaign. Indeed, right after the shakedown of the SF-25 single-seater, all the key figures dressed in red made no secret of their goals for the 2025 Formula 1 championship.
The former Alfa Romeo team principal has always sought to explain the reasons behind failures, continuously pushing the Maranello team’s resurrection further down the line. After the beatings taken in the first five rounds of the championship, the start of the European season was supposed to mark a turning point. Or at least, that was the objective Ferrari clung to through Frederic’s words.
The Spanish Grand Prix was expected to bring a breakthrough, coinciding with the introduction of the technical directive on front wing flexibility. Ferrari placed disproportionate importance on technical directive TD018. More than once, the head of the historic Maranello-based team explained that there was no point in introducing aerodynamic upgrades that could be invalidated by the FIA’s directive on front wing deflection.
As widely predicted, the technical directive concerning aeroelasticity did not change the on-track hierarchy. No benefit for the Italian team, with McLaren comfortably dominating the Spanish Grand Prix, despite the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona not being ideal for the MCL39 car. Wings continue to flex, and the marginal variations in car balance have been managed by teams through setup adjustments.
What characterizes all the official statements of the Prancing Horse’s team principal is the systematic evasion of the real issues plaguing the 677 project. The SF-25’s lack of competitiveness is dismissed as the chronic difficulty in bringing the tyres into the correct operating window. A car that Frederic Vasseur has described as “sensitive” because it only delivers maximum performance under specific conditions.
And when has this potential ever emerged? In the Sprint Race in China? In race pace over a few laps? It is clearly too little to consider the SF-25 a temperamental project with real potential. Why not just tell it like it is? The Prancing Horse has almost always been uncompetitive from the start. This is clearly the case with the SF-25, whose ongoing tweaks reveal the current critical issues of the car.
It is time to call Ferrari SF-25’s problems by their name. The suspension system is the component responsible for maximizing the contact patch between tyres and track surface, absorbing surface irregularities and kerbs, while simultaneously ensuring the rigidity needed to fully exploit the car’s floor. These theoretical premises help us understand the current difficulties facing Ferrari.
The interaction between suspension and chassis is fundamental. So are ride heights, a closely related matter. The engineers and technicians in Maranello have carried out a study leading to some modifications in the rear suspension layout, which could help the car perform at its best. In addition to this, there is talk of a new floor that will complete the package.
— see video above —
Leave a Reply