The start of the season for the Ferrari SF-25 has been one of the worst in recent years, well below expectations, and Frédéric Vasseur is aware of this. With Charles Leclerc performing miracles to bring the car into the top positions and Lewis Hamilton still struggling to understand the car, Ferrari has shown significant mechanical-aerodynamic issues, which are probably solvable, but not in the short term.
Despite this, team principal Frédéric Vasseur has expressed optimism regarding the 2025 project, stating that the team has everything needed to become competitive again.
“The ingredients are all there, but now it’s a matter of cooking, knowing how to combine them at the right time,” said Frédéric Vasseur.
“Honestly, I don’t have the feeling that we’ve managed to extract the maximum from the car so far, maybe only on a few occasions or in some sessions. But I would say the same applies to others. Even McLaren, despite making a big step forward compared to the rest of the grid, sometimes sees one of its cars struggling. That’s the current situation.”
Increasingly similar performances
Frédéric Vasseur also pointed out that it is now more difficult for any team to stand out, as performance between teams has become extremely levelled, and finding areas for improvement with this generation of cars is increasingly complex.
In the fourth year of the current technical regulations, the development curve of the cars is flattening, making it very difficult to extract additional potential.
“A couple of years ago, you could face Q1 with a set of Medium tires, do one lap, and easily make it to Q2,” Frédéric Vasseur explained.
“Today, even the top teams sometimes have to use two sets of Soft tires. The grid is really compact, and every small mistake can cost five or six positions. From the outside, it might seem like a disaster. But we focus on pure performance: losing five hundredths is not a disaster. We need to stay calm in the analysis if we want to keep improving. One of the team’s strengths last year was precisely the ability to capitalize on every little advantage. I hope we can continue on this path this year as well.”
Despite the optimism shown by Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari must face competitors that currently have a clear performance advantage. Closing the gap will require significant technical effort from the Maranello team, which will need to work hard to make up the lost ground.
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