A disappointing result
Ferrari finished eighth and tenth in Australia, never looking capable of challenging McLaren, Mercedes, or Max Verstappen. The team struggled with its chronic wet-weather weaknesses and a setup that deteriorated over the weekend. However, Fred Vasseur believes the SF-25 has hidden potential. In his press conference, the Team Principal revisited the strategic decisions made in what he described as an unpredictable context where every move was a gamble.
Positive signs
“I think today’s conditions were not representative at all,” Fred Vasseur began. “It’s much more indicative to look at what we did from Friday morning until Q2 rather than at today’s conditions. Even looking at Verstappen’s lap times, you can see swings of a second from one lap to the next. That’s because as soon as you overheat the tires, there’s a big drop-off, or you try to preserve them. I believe the real picture is what we saw on Friday and Saturday, though even then, McLaren was a step ahead.”
Fred Vasseur sees the true SF-25 as the efficient, well-balanced car that was gentle on its tires during the early practice sessions—qualities that were lost as the setup evolved in the wrong direction. “On Friday, we were in good shape and in a strong position. We struggled more in Q3, while in Q2, we were within tenths of McLaren and Verstappen. I think we lost a bit of pace in Q3, and today was even trickier, but this is certainly not the real picture of the season.”
“We must remember that at the end of last year, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, and ourselves all won races with a big margin,” the Frenchman noted. “Mercedes was flying in Las Vegas, we won in Mexico and Austin—the situation changed from weekend to weekend. The battle is tight, and if you don’t prepare properly by adapting the car and tires to track temperatures, you find yourself completely outside the performance window. Next weekend will be different.”
Lewis Hamilton ’s difficult debut
Another key topic in Australia was Lewis Hamilton’s struggles, as he was never a threat to his teammate and is still adapting to Ferrari. “It takes a long time to adjust,” Fred Vasseur commented. “We’ve only had two full days on track in a race weekend—it’s not a long period. We shouldn’t draw conclusions like that. Let’s focus on what we’re doing. I don’t think the issue is Lewis adapting to something—it’s the car itself.”
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari debut happened under particularly difficult conditions. “I think this weekend was extreme for several reasons—it’s not a permanent circuit, grip levels change suddenly, and today’s conditions were tough. It was probably one of the hardest weekends to manage. It wasn’t exactly a shock, but it wasn’t the right weekend for us either. Let’s focus on next week—we have a lot to learn from this one because we made mistakes.” – the French manager pointed out.
Melbourne’s strategy gamble
Fred Vasseur also addressed Ferrari’s strategic choices, particularly the late pit stops for intermediates, which may have cost them a podium. “It was a strange situation. The first two sectors were still dry, while the last was completely wet—it was almost a gamble. We and Red Bull bet on staying out and waiting for the final stint on dry tires. Mercedes and McLaren pitted two laps earlier, partly because Norris and Piastri had gone off track. We made the wrong call—the best decision would have been to pit on the same lap as Max Verstappen.”
While the gamble didn’t pay off, Fred Vasseur doesn’t believe the decision-making process itself was flawed. “It’s incredibly difficult—there’s no rain sensor. It’s more about instincts, what we see on monitors and radar, with conditions changing from corner to corner. I think we were all surprised by the amount of rain at that point, and McLaren reacted first. We gambled on surviving on slicks.” – the Frenchman concluded.
