Ferrari starts from behind again at Silverstone: Fred Vasseur clings to a decisive factor | British GP. Frederic Vasseur remains optimistic about the British Grand Prix.

Ferrari starting from behind again at Silverstone: Frederic Vasseur places his hopes on one decisive factor

Once again, Scuderia Ferrari delivered an underwhelming performance in qualifying, setting the stage for yet another comeback attempt during the 2025 Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After raising hopes during the free practice sessions earlier in the weekend, the Maranello-based team must now shift its focus to recovery. Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has highlighted what he believes could be a key factor in turning things around on race day.

As has unfortunately become a recurring theme this season, the Ferrari SF-25 appeared competitive in the initial phases of qualifying—Q1 and Q2—with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton closely matching the pace of their main rivals. However, once again in Q3, the final and most crucial segment of qualifying, Ferrari struggled to make the step forward that others managed to achieve.

At the end of the session, the stopwatch showed a best time of 1:25.095 for Lewis Hamilton, placing the British driver in fifth position. Just behind him came Charles Leclerc, whose lap was two and a half tenths slower than the pole time set by Max Verstappen in the Red Bull RB21.

Despite the frustration of missing out on the front rows, data from Friday’s second free practice session (FP2) paints a more optimistic picture for Ferrari’s chances in the race. The long-run pace simulations suggest that the SF-25 may perform significantly better over a race distance.

Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, speaking to Sky Sport F1, confirmed his belief in Ferrari’s Sunday potential: “Tomorrow’s race should go much better for us at Scuderia Ferrari. During the free practice sessions, we showed excellent race pace—possibly the best we’ve had so far this season. There’s definitely a lot of frustration at the moment, because once again, we weren’t able to put everything together in Q3. But as we’ve seen before, our race performances tend to be stronger than our qualifying efforts, and that gives us reasons to remain confident.”

When asked about the possibility of rain influencing the Grand Prix, Vasseur remained cautious: “Am I hoping for rain? Right now, the weather forecast is increasingly shifting toward dry conditions. The chances of rain are going down, and I actually hope it stays dry. We need to make the most of our strong race pace and manage tire degradation carefully, because here at Silverstone, tire wear is extremely high.”