The Ferrari Team Principal appeared vague, describing the qualifying session while trying to emphasize the positive aspects of the weekend, which ultimately carry little weight.
On paper, Singapore should have been a favorable track for Ferrari. The “hot” factor was expected to help compared to the previous weekend, but that was not the case. While Mercedes – who were thought to be struggling – secured pole with George Russell, Ferrari remained in their usual positions, failing to go beyond the third row.
Tomorrow’s starting positions will be P6 and P7, with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Charles Leclerc. The takeaway is that this was not a positive qualifying session, or rather, not an exciting one for the Maranello team, but at least it aligns with previous performances.
Lewis appears to continue making progress in terms of feeling with the car, while Charles Leclerc faced issues driving an understeering car. Difficulties were particularly noticeable in the first and second corners, affecting him throughout the weekend so far.
Singapore GP 2025: Fred Vasseur’s vague comments after qualifying
For Leclerc, the adjective would be resigned, and for Lewis Hamilton, “optimal.” For Fred Vasseur, “vague” seems the most fitting. Listening to his words after the session, the final impression is that nothing is really clear. Speaking as usual to Sky Sport F1, he focused on the positives of the weekend so far, as if they were enough to justify all the negatives.
“The feeling is that we didn’t extract the car’s potential, more throughout the weekend than today,” he said. “On Friday morning we had a good pace, but in qualifying we only set the necessary time towards the end of Q1. Then we didn’t take the right direction during the session, I don’t know.”
Hearing a Team Principal admit that he doesn’t know the reasons for a disappointing session is not ideal. The session needs analyzing, of course, but strangely, one appreciates the honesty and the fact that he didn’t repeat the usual “we need to put everything together and do well.”
Before the weekend, it seemed Ferrari could be ahead of Mercedes, but that didn’t happen. Fred Vasseur commented: “True, but that’s the case for Red Bull, McLaren, and us. I believe Mercedes is improving. They struggled a lot yesterday, while today they were impressive. They have made a huge step forward compared to everyone, not just us.”
The final topic discussed with the French manager was the car’s potential – the untapped potential. “Everything is at the limit,” he explained. “It’s not easy to drive the car; the right conditions for preparing the tires for the out lap aren’t there. Maybe you are in good conditions at the start but not at the end.”
He concluded by trying to highlight the positives from Friday to today, returning to the “optimal” Friday performance and the first qualifying session. He added a phrase that, at this point in the season, feels out of place: “We should keep pushing and be confident that we can do it.”
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