Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have cleared the air following their recent tensions, revealing that the two drivers left his office joking together after discussions during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend. The French manager also acknowledged mistakes in Ferrari’s race strategy at Interlagos, where tyre management problems prevented the SF-26 from showing its full potential.
The 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix will be remembered as one of Ferrari’s most difficult weekends of the season. Problems with tyre management, a less-than-ideal strategy and performance that Fred Vasseur believes fell short of the car’s potential all contributed to a disappointing outcome. It was a significant contrast to Mexico, where the SF-26 had been highly competitive, although the aftermath of that race was overshadowed by controversy involving Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Fred Vasseur explains Ferrari’s Brazilian GP tyre struggles
Speaking after the race at Interlagos, Fred Vasseur rejected the suggestion that Ferrari’s difficulties were necessarily caused by the characteristics of the circuit. Instead, he believes the team had more performance available than it managed to extract, with penalties also influencing its approach to qualifying.
“I don’t think it’s a question of the circuit not suiting the car. I think there was more potential, but also knowing about the penalties, the approach to qualifying is different,” the Ferrari team principal explained.
Tyre management proved to be one of the most complicated aspects of Ferrari’s weekend. The SF-26 alternated between periods of competitive performance and phases in which its pace dropped significantly, highlighting how sensitive the car was to changing conditions.
“I don’t want to go into the technical details, but it certainly has a lot to do with tyre temperatures and the different phases of the race, or certain conditions in which we struggle more. There was a huge difference between the beginning of Charles’s stint on the Soft tyres and the final laps, when he was almost as quick as the drivers on fresh tyres.”
The importance of keeping the tyres within their ideal operating window became a central theme of Fred Vasseur’s post-race press conference. According to the French manager, problems in this area can have a greater impact on performance than either the circuit characteristics or upgrades introduced to the car.
“As usual, when you have a problem with the tyres, the impact is always much, much greater than the characteristics of the car or the upgrades. You can bring an upgrade every weekend, but if you’re not in the right window with the tyres, you won’t notice it, because the scale of the effect is almost greater than that of the upgrade or the characteristics of the track. This weekend, I think we managed to be competitive on some occasions, while on others we were a long way off.”
The fluctuations in performance underline the importance of understanding the SF-26’s tyre behaviour, particularly after the competitiveness Ferrari demonstrated during the previous round in Mexico.
Lewis Hamilton’s Brazilian GP strategy: An aggressive decision and a missed pit entry
Ferrari’s race strategy also came under scrutiny, particularly regarding two pit-wall decisions involving Lewis Hamilton. The first concerned the timing of his switch to Soft tyres, while the second involved a pit-stop instruction that the seven-time Formula 1 world champion did not follow.
During the race, Lewis Hamilton requested a change to Soft tyres. Ferrari initially hesitated before calling him into the pits, making the British driver one of the first to begin the sequence of pit stops.
However, the decision did not produce the expected advantage, as Fernando Alonso remained faster on Intermediate tyres during the following lap: “But Fernando Alonso, on the Intermediates, was faster than us on the following lap. Perhaps we were a little too aggressive,” Fred Vasseur admitted.
The second incident concerned another planned pit stop. Despite receiving the instruction to come in, Lewis Hamilton remained on track and subsequently explained that he had missed the pit entry. When asked whether the British driver had actually been given enough time to react to the instruction, Fred Vasseur offered a brief response: “I think so.”
The decisions added to the questions surrounding Ferrari’s race management, with the team’s pit-stop and strategy statistics providing a broader view of the different approaches used throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Fred Vasseur also explained that Ferrari’s strategic difficulties were not limited to pit-stop timing. The SF-26’s familiar straight-line speed deficit, problems bringing the tyres up to the correct temperature and the challenge of racing further down the order all contributed to the team’s problems.
“I think it was a combination of factors: the top-speed problem, the difficulty of getting the tyres up to the correct temperature and the fact that we were running towards the back. When you’re there, you struggle and try to find a shortcut through strategy, but it’s not easy.”
Fred Vasseur confirms Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have resolved their differences
Beyond Ferrari’s performance problems, Fred Vasseur also addressed the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc following the controversy that emerged after the Mexican Grand Prix.
The two Ferrari drivers had attracted considerable attention following their on-track confrontation and subsequent comments in Mexico, prompting questions about how the team would manage the situation heading into the final part of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Against that backdrop, Ferrari’s handling of its two drivers became an important talking point. However, Fred Vasseur insisted that the discussions held during the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend had produced a positive outcome.
“You can’t compare the two situations. And, honestly, on Friday we had a good discussion. We cleared the air. I think it was a good outcome in terms of the mindset: they left my office joking together, and that’s positive. I hope it continues like this. In any case, we had a good meeting on Thursday.”
The Ferrari team principal’s comments suggest that the discussions helped ease the tension between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, at least from the perspective of their relationship within the team.
While the Brazilian Grand Prix exposed further weaknesses in Ferrari’s tyre management and strategic execution, Fred Vasseur’s account of the meetings offered a more encouraging development away from the track. With the relationship between the two drivers apparently improved, Ferrari can focus its attention on addressing the performance issues that prevented the SF-26 from delivering a stronger result at Interlagos.
Leave a Reply