Frédéric Vasseur says Ferrari’s power unit remains the biggest limitation of the SF-26 after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while the advantage previously attributed to the car’s chassis may have narrowed or disappeared altogether. Speaking after Baku, the Ferrari team principal also discussed the prospects for Malaysia, the team’s upcoming upgrades and how quickly Formula 1’s competitive order can change as rivals continue to develop their cars.
The Frenchman addressed a wide range of subjects and reiterated that Ferrari intends to keep fighting “until the final corner”. The Baku weekend underlined the contrast within the SF-26: Ferrari managed to put Charles Leclerc on the front row in qualifying, a result that came as a surprise on a circuit where power-unit performance is particularly important, before the team faced much greater difficulties in the race.
Ferrari power unit remains the SF-26’s biggest limitation
During the opening laps and following restarts, Ferrari was almost always forced to defend rather than attack. Frédéric Vasseur rejected the idea that this was the result of a deliberate strategy or because Ferrari needed more time than its rivals to bring the tyres into their operating window.
Instead, he identified a specific technical explanation. “I think it’s a matter of when we are fighting, because with the situation we have on the engine, in those laps we lose one position per lap and then we were losing the race pace.”
Ferrari had nevertheless produced a positive surprise in qualifying by securing a place on the front row at one of the circuits most sensitive to power-unit performance. George Russell took pole while Charles Leclerc secured second place, with the full qualifying result covered in our Baku qualifying analysis.
“Honestly, we were surprised to be on the front row, because Baku is the most demanding circuit in terms of the engine, together with Monza. We didn’t expect to be able to do it,” Frédéric Vasseur explained.
Ferrari was aware, however, that its starting position would not necessarily solve the problem on Sunday. “We knew that even starting from the front row, the initial laps, or a possible restart after a Safety Car, would be difficult. And that was the case.”
For Frédéric Vasseur, fourth and sixth represented the maximum Ferrari could extract from the circumstances it encountered. “Overall, I think we maximised what we could do in Baku, with fourth and sixth place, but we can’t be satisfied.”
Why Ferrari’s straight-line weakness creates a negative spiral
The straight-line-speed problem does not simply cost Ferrari lap time on the straights. It can also influence the aerodynamic choices the team makes and, as a consequence, compromise performance elsewhere around the lap.
“The biggest limitation is that when you are in this situation and you want to defend, you enter into a kind of negative spiral. Maybe you try to run with less downforce compared to the optimal set-up because you have to defend yourself, and you lose time anyway,” Frédéric Vasseur said.
A similar situation occurred at Monza, where Ferrari made comparable aerodynamic choices. Reducing downforce can improve straight-line speed, although not necessarily by enough to remove the deficit, while the resulting compromise can also hurt race pace. Ferrari’s strengths and weaknesses through the Baku corners and acceleration zones were also visible in the SF-26 telemetry analysis from Azerbaijan.
Even when Ferrari’s underlying race pace is competitive, losing positions to cars with a stronger performance profile on the straights can compromise the final outcome. The extent of those differences can also be explored through the F1 Top Speed Comparison.
Frédéric Vasseur expects the problem to become less severe at the upcoming events. “The next races will be a little less demanding from this point of view,” he said, referring to Malaysia and, in particular, the characteristics of Sepang.
Why Sepang should suit Ferrari better than Baku
Malaysia could provide Ferrari with a more favourable environment than Baku because the Sepang circuit should place greater emphasis on other characteristics of the SF-26.
“If you look at the aerodynamic sensitivity, Baku and Monza are the two extremes. Then you have Singapore and other circuits where we can do better compared to this weekend,” Frédéric Vasseur explained.
Ferrari had already made progress with energy deployment and set-up during the Azerbaijan weekend, although the car’s underlying limitations remained visible in our Baku FP3 technical analysis.
Regarding Malaysia, Frédéric Vasseur does not expect the absence of recent Formula 1 data from Sepang to become a major problem. Every team still has access to information from around ten years ago, even though the cars and Formula 1 as a whole have changed significantly since then. Teams have also become accustomed to dealing with circuits where modern reference data is limited.
“In Madrid we had no data and it was all new for everybody,” Frédéric Vasseur pointed out.
Ferrari upgrades “coming soon” as chassis advantage fades
Ferrari does not intend to simply wait for its rivals to close the remaining performance gaps. New developments are being prepared for the coming races as Maranello continues to push the SF-26 programme.
“We will bring upgrades and we will continue to push until the final corner. I don’t know whether the final corner will be in the Middle East or somewhere else, but we will push until the final corner. It doesn’t matter where the final corner will be,” Frédéric Vasseur said.
The Ferrari team principal also warned against interpreting rivals’ comments about their development programmes too literally.
“First of all, don’t believe what Red Bull says about not bringing upgrades. If you stop working on the car at the beginning of September, you will continue to bring upgrades because you have the production lead times. Sometimes you can say that you have stopped working on the current car while you are still producing upgrades, because production takes a long time.”
Frédéric Vasseur highlighted an important difference between improving a chassis and developing a Formula 1 power unit. “There is also a kind of convergence on the chassis. You can improve much more quickly compared to the engine.”
This means the competitive balance between teams can change progressively on the chassis side, while power-unit development operates on significantly longer timescales. “There is a kind of convergence of the performance you have on the chassis and on the engine.”
Frédéric Vasseur also acknowledged that the advantage previously attributed to Ferrari’s SF-26 chassis may have become smaller as rival teams improve.
“I think the advantage we have on the chassis is smaller, or perhaps it is no longer there. I don’t know, because it is not simply a matter of chassis and engine.”
The behaviour of a Formula 1 car depends on numerous parameters that vary from one circuit to another. For Ferrari, however, that does not mean the SF-26 chassis has suddenly become the main problem.
“If we consider the deficit we estimate on the engine compared to the others, the chassis is not our main problem,” Frédéric Vasseur said.
ScuderiaFans understands that Ferrari’s next developments are expected around the Austin phase of the season, although Frédéric Vasseur continues to keep the exact timing and programme confidential. A response is expected after McLaren’s improvements and the upgrades being prepared by Mercedes, although development steps do not always deliver their full potential immediately. Mercedes has also acknowledged that more performance remains to be extracted from its package, as detailed in Mercedes’ ongoing W17 development programme.
“Sometimes you make steps but they don’t always pay off, because sometimes you have to fine-tune the tools on the car,” Frédéric Vasseur explained.
At the same time, Formula 1 teams are now transferring an increasingly significant share of their resources towards the following season. “Now everybody is moving onto next year’s programme. Even though there is continuity, there are still some regulatory changes.”
No major alarm over straight-line speed differences, but qualifying must be monitored
Frédéric Vasseur also addressed the speed differences between cars and whether they could create a safety concern. Sergio Perez had complained about a situation he believed could potentially be dangerous, a subject that was subsequently put to the Ferrari team principal.
“Dangerous? I think four or five kilometres is a huge difference, but saying that it is dangerous is another story. We also have to remain calm,” Frédéric Vasseur responded.
He distinguished between the normal performance gap between cars running at full speed and the more extreme circumstances observed during qualifying in Baku.
“I don’t know if he was referring to this or to qualifying yesterday, when you had cars starting the straight without battery and others finishing the lap with battery. In that case you had a difference of 60–80 km/h through Turns 16, 17 and 18. That was a little dangerous. But a speed delta on track when we are all pushing is another thing.”
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