Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur was encouraged by the team’s Friday performance at the United States Grand Prix, but he refused to get carried away after Charles Leclerc topped both practice sessions in Austin. With Ferrari still learning about its latest SF-26 aerodynamic package and Lewis Hamilton struggling to find the ideal setup, Frederic Vasseur believes qualifying will provide a much clearer indication of the team’s true competitiveness.
Two different sides to Ferrari’s Austin Friday
Ferrari brought the final aerodynamic upgrade package for the SF-26 to Austin, although the team had already tried to temper excessive expectations before Friday’s running began. Even so, seeing Charles Leclerc at the top of the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2 inevitably gave Ferrari supporters reason for optimism.
The other side of the garage experienced a more difficult day. Lewis Hamilton appeared less comfortable with the car and finished sixth in both sessions after taking a setup direction that proved less effective. His difficulties in extracting the same performance as Charles Leclerc were also evident during FP2, when Lewis Hamilton questioned the gap to his Ferrari teammate over team radio.
Charles Leclerc’s performance nevertheless provided Ferrari with encouraging indications as the team continued evaluating its latest developments. The broader Friday picture, including practice pace and longer runs, can also be explored through the F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis.
Frederic Vasseur remains cautious over Ferrari’s Austin pace
As is often the case on a Friday, Frederic Vasseur was keen to cool the optimism surrounding Ferrari’s performance, adopting a similarly cautious tone to Charles Leclerc despite the encouraging results.
“It’s definitely a good start, but I think once again the field is very, very tight. The practice classification is not that representative ahead of qualifying, and that means we have to focus on ourselves and keep working. We have a lot of things to learn about the car with the new package and we need to try to do the best possible job tomorrow.”
The opening day was particularly important because Ferrari still needs to understand exactly how the latest aerodynamic developments are affecting the SF-26. Charles Leclerc’s FP2 benchmark reinforced the positive first impression, with Ferrari looking increasingly competitive as the weekend developed.
Ferrari still learning about its latest SF-26 upgrades
Frederic Vasseur also addressed the developments introduced in Austin, stressing that extracting performance from updates becomes increasingly difficult as a Formula 1 season progresses.
“We’re still at a very early stage. The impact of developments is slightly smaller than it was at the beginning of the season. So we need to fine-tune every detail and try to do our best for tomorrow.”
Ferrari’s work in Austin therefore extends beyond simply assessing the headline lap times. Engineers must understand how the revised package behaves across different conditions and determine the best setup before qualifying, when the competitive order should become more representative.
Frederic Vasseur expects five or six cars to fight for pole
Asked by F1TV whether Ferrari could realistically target victory in Austin, Frederic Vasseur remained guarded and insisted that qualifying must come first.
“Let’s see qualifying first, because if you find yourself in dirty air it becomes more difficult. Let’s see how it goes. I think there are five or six cars capable of fighting for pole. It’s positive for F1 and it’s positive for us if we can be at the front,” Frederic Vasseur concluded with a smile.
Ferrari therefore heads into qualifying with genuine encouragement from Charles Leclerc’s Friday speed, but without any guarantees. The margins at the front remain small, and Frederic Vasseur expects several cars to be involved in the battle for pole position before attention can turn towards Ferrari’s chances of fighting for victory.
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