Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has explained why Lewis Hamilton struggled to maintain his remarkable opening-lap pace at the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix, suggesting that the team’s tyre pressure choices played an important role. The seven-time world champion gained an extraordinary 11 positions on the first lap at Interlagos, climbing from 20th to ninth, but his recovery quickly lost momentum as Ferrari encountered further difficulties.
It was a disappointing Sunday for the Maranello team, with Charles Leclerc finishing seventh and Lewis Hamilton ninth. Despite having predicted on Saturday that Ferrari would be competitive if the race took place in wet conditions, Fred Vasseur saw both drivers struggle after starting on intermediate tyres on a damp circuit. Speaking to Sky Sport F1, the French manager acknowledged that the SF-26 had not delivered the performance the team expected.
Fred Vasseur explains Lewis Hamilton’s Brazilian GP tyre pressure problems
Lewis Hamilton produced one of the most impressive starts of the Brazilian Grand Prix, gaining 11 places in a single lap. However, the spectacular recovery proved short-lived, with the SF-26’s difficulties becoming increasingly apparent as the race developed.
According to Fred Vasseur, the explanation may lie in Ferrari’s tyre pressure settings, which provided an advantage at the start but came at a cost during the remainder of the stint.
“It was probably a question of tyre pressures,” Fred Vasseur explained. “There is a positive and a negative side to every choice: it worked very well at the start, but not quite as well during the stint. You can’t have a first lap like that without paying some price for it.”
The Ferrari team principal acknowledged that the problems extended beyond the opening phase of the race, preventing the Italian outfit from maintaining the competitiveness it had hoped to demonstrate in wet conditions.
“We had some problems with the tyres during the race, so we were missing something, and that is why it didn’t go exactly as we wanted. We can certainly do better.”
The contrast between Lewis Hamilton’s extraordinary start and his subsequent loss of pace highlighted the compromises involved in Ferrari’s tyre management. The team’s broader Brazilian Grand Prix strategy had already placed considerable emphasis on changing weather conditions and the opportunities they might create for both drivers.
Fred Vasseur reveals why Charles Leclerc struggled with inconsistent Ferrari pace
Fred Vasseur also addressed the difficulties experienced by Charles Leclerc, who finished seventh after an inconsistent race in which Ferrari struggled to extract the SF-26’s available performance.
The French manager suggested that the team’s lack of pace was not always the result of an underlying performance deficit. Instead, he pointed to driving errors caused by the car’s difficult handling characteristics.
“We were far too inconsistent throughout much of the race. I have to say that when we were lacking pace, it was more a question of mistakes, because the car was very difficult to drive, and the lack of performance came from that.”
However, Fred Vasseur also identified a more encouraging aspect of Charles Leclerc’s performance, particularly towards the end of his stint on older soft tyres.
“It’s also true that Charles was very fast at the end of his stint on the old soft tyres. We now know why, but it’s a real shame because the potential was probably there. However, it was difficult for us to put everything together during the race.”
His assessment suggested that Ferrari had opportunities to achieve a better result, but its inability to deliver consistent performance prevented Charles Leclerc from fully exploiting them. The changing tyre performance across the race can also be examined through the F1 tyre and stint analysis.
Ferrari faces a completely different tyre challenge at the Las Vegas GP
With the disappointment of Interlagos behind Ferrari, Fred Vasseur turned his attention to the next challenge in Las Vegas, where the team expects to encounter conditions very different from those experienced throughout much of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The French manager highlighted the extremely low temperatures anticipated for the American event, explaining that Ferrari would need to reverse its usual approach to managing tyre temperatures.
“Las Vegas will be an extreme race in terms of weather because, as usual, it will be only five degrees Celsius, and that means we will find ourselves in the opposite situation to what we have experienced throughout the season. Normally, you try to cool the tyres down a little, whereas in this case we will have to warm them up, so we will need to work in a completely opposite way.”
The remarks underline how different the demands of the Las Vegas Grand Prix could be for Ferrari. Rather than concentrating primarily on keeping the tyres cool, the team expects to face the opposite challenge of generating sufficient temperature to bring them into the correct operating window.
After a Brazilian Grand Prix in which tyre-related difficulties contributed to the disappointing finishing positions of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, finding the right balance will remain an important consideration for the Maranello team as it prepares for the next race.
Leave a Reply