Ferrari’s long wait to return to winning a Formula 1 World Championship is becoming heavier with each passing season. It has already been 17 years without a title, and despite major investments in the 2025 project, the Prancing Horse has not managed to close the gap to a dominant McLaren this year.
Team principal Frédéric Vasseur admitted his own mistake during an episode of the Beyond the Grid podcast. He described the situation as intense, noting that in sport there are always ups and downs and the desire is always for more. Looking back at the last two years, he pointed out there has been good progress, but acknowledged that perhaps he underestimated the time needed to bring Ferrari back to winning ways.
There are some positive signals, with Lewis Hamilton’s sprint victory in China and several podiums for Charles Leclerc, but the Frenchman knows the road ahead is still long. He explained that rebuilding something or doing things differently takes time. It is difficult and emotional, but he underlined that the mood within the team remains positive.
The real obstacles: regulations, personnel and very long timelines
According to Fred Vasseur, slowness in making changes is inherent in Formula 1. With contracts for key personnel, if a team wants to recruit someone or change its structure it can take two years. He mentioned Loïc Serra, who joined eight months ago, but negotiations had started two years earlier. His first real Ferrari contribution will only arrive next year, highlighting how such processes require at least three years.
The Frenchman also stressed the risk of managerial instability, comparing the situation to Alpine. He pointed out that if a team changes its principal every year, results cannot be expected, because the timelines of Formula 1 are simply not the same.
The year 2026, with the arrival of the new technical regulations, will be the decisive test. By then, Vasseur will finally have had enough time to leave his mark. Ferrari fans hope that the endless wait for a championship will truly be coming to an end.
