Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has confirmed that the Italian side plans to introduce an aerodynamic upgrade package over the upcoming races, but the French manager emphasized that a significant portion of performance gains will come from cleaner, more efficient race weekends, particularly by mastering the use of Pirelli’s tyres. According to Frederic Vasseur, the key lies not only in the hardware improvements but also in optimizing race execution to extract the maximum from the current SF-25 car.
Following Charles Leclerc’s first podium finish of the 2025 Formula season, which was secured at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in Spain, the Canadian Grand Prix weekend unfortunately proved to be another challenging event for Ferrari. The difficulties began with the Monegasque driver crashing during the first free practice session at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal, followed by a critical error in dirty air during his final Q3 lap in the qualifying session. The situation was further complicated in the race when Lewis Hamilton collided with a groundhog in the early stages of the Grand Prix, resulting in a loss of downforce. Additionally, Ferrari’s strategic decisions for both cars came under scrutiny, raising questions about their approach.
When asked about what Ferrari needed to become a more consistent challenger after qualifying fifth in Montreal, Lewis Hamilton suggested that upgrades were essential. He pointed out that Ferrari had not introduced any significant aerodynamic upgrades recently and that the team had been running essentially the same car for quite some time. Lewis Hamilton expressed hope that, despite the lack of upgrades, the Maranello team could still compete for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Despite the criticisms Ferrari has faced, it remains the most consistent points scorer behind dominant leader McLaren. The Italian side sits only 16 points behind second-placed Mercedes and maintains a 21-point lead over Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton, while struggling, still benefits from having a strong second car, with Ferrari outscoring both Mercedes and Red Bull’s second drivers. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli is still adapting to the team, while Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda continues to face huge challenges, as did every driver that tried his luck in the second Red Bull car..
Aside from a modest car update introduced in Imola, Lewis Hamilton’s call for aerodynamic upgrades is about to be answered. Ferrari is preparing a new batch of parts expected to debut by the Silverstone race, with another potential upgrade planned after the mid-July round. However, team principal Frederic Vasseur, who recently dismissed rumors about his future at Ferrari, remains cautious about the immediate impact these improvements will have. He does not expect the upgrades to suddenly reverse Ferrari’s fortunes or lead to victories, which have eluded the team since Carlos Sainz’s remarkable win in Mexico last year. Instead, Frederic Vasseur insists that performance gains will come primarily from improved weekend execution, something the team notably failed at during the Canadian Grand Prix, where Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Frederic Vasseur explained that while aerodynamic upgrades are coming, the greatest performance improvements lie in better execution rather than raw car potential. The Frenchman also pointed out that with the current regulations nearing their end, trackside gains are now measured in hundredths of a second rather than tenths. Furthermore, poor car setup can cost valuable time. Past experiences showed that adapting to upgrades sometimes requires one or two races to optimize the setup to the new components. For Ferrari, the focus is clearly on refining race weekend management rather than relying solely on technical developments.
Achieving smooth, error-free weekends, like the one experienced in Monaco, is vital for Ferrari to compete from the front rows. The Maranello team’s struggles in Canada highlighted the consequences of mistakes, where any problem during the weekend quickly results in lost time and positions.
One of the most significant challenges across the Formula 1 grid with this generation of cars has been extracting optimal performance from Pirelli’s tyres, especially in terms of qualifying pace. Ferrari has experimented with different strategies to gain an edge in this area. For instance, in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying, Charles Leclerc sacrificed an early set of soft tyres to conserve medium tyres for the race, resulting in only a seventh-place start after a single Q3 run.
Throughout the 2025 Formula 1 season, both Ferrari drivers have frequently struggled to get the tyres into their ideal operating window during qualifying laps. This was particularly evident in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend at the Imola circuit, where Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified 11th and 12th respectively, unable to improve their times on the final flying laps with the new C6 soft compound. The Monegasque had previously suggested that Ferrari faces difficulties extracting peak performance from brand-new tyres, which, while theoretically faster, offer less consistency than scrubbed rubber. Nevertheless, he believed the Maranello team’s larger bottleneck was outright car performance.
Frederic Vasseur remains convinced that optimizing tyre use is crucial for Ferrari’s challenge at the front of the grid. The former Alfa Romeo team principal highlighted that while the SF-25 car’s pace was decent at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona and on the streets of Monaco, the primary issue lies in tyre management and selection, particularly for qualifying. According to Frederic Vasseur, teams like Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and Mercedes managed tyre strategy better in Canada than Ferrari and McLaren, especially from the start of the weekend. The French manager emphasized that tyre usage and performance differences currently have a greater impact on results than differences between the cars themselves. Success depends on how well a team understands and exploits tyre characteristics, and this will continue to be true through the rest of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Regarding the ongoing development of the 2025 car, Frederic Vasseur reiterated Ferrari’s commitment to improving it despite the looming 2026 regulations. He argued that this approach helps maintain team motivation and recognizes that greater gains are achievable trackside rather than in the wind tunnel. Frederic Vasseur dismissed suggestions that resource allocation between 2025 and 2026 regulations has hindered Ferrari’s progress, stating that every team faces similar challenges. The Ferrari team boss also underlined that the core issue is not the car’s potential or the drivers’ capabilities, but the overall execution during race weekends, which is not linked to the split focus between this year’s and next year’s regulations.
In summary, Ferrari’s path to regaining competitiveness hinges on improving race weekend execution and mastering tyre management, alongside carefully timed technical aerodynamic upgrades. While the Maranello team prepares new parts to be introduced soon, the key to consistent success lies in flawless strategy and tyre optimization under current regulations.
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