The penultimate weekend of the 2025 season brought a turning point in Ferrari’s team communication: following Charles Leclerc’s Thursday comments (“we sacrificed the end of the season to fully focus on next year”), team principal Fred Vasseur today confirmed that Scuderia Ferrari shifted resources and attention to 2026 very early, moving the decision even further back than initially thought.
Vasseur: “We realized 2025 would be very difficult”
The push for this early decision likely came from the disappointing results that continued even after the summer break, making the goal of achieving at least one victory in the season increasingly unrealistic. Speaking at a press conference, Fred Vasseur explained the key moment that led Ferrari to decide to sacrifice the SF-25 and the current championship: “We didn’t start in the best way. The double disqualification in China cost us a lot of points compared to our rivals. It was still early in the season, but McLaren was dominating the first four or five events so much that we realized it would be very difficult for 2025.”
The French manager added: “This meant that we decided very early in the season—around the end of April, I believe—to focus on 2026. It was a difficult decision, and perhaps I underestimated the psychological impact a bit, because there were still 20 races to go, and you know that no aerodynamic development will be brought. It’s quite hard to manage psychologically, but overall we continue to push. We’ve made some mechanical updates, we’re trying to improve the car’s performance, and this is the DNA of motorsport.”
Finding positives in a challenging 2025
When asked if there were positive aspects to take from 2025, Fred Vasseur offered a half-full perspective: “Even in a difficult season, I think we had a decent recovery in terms of performance. We returned to the podium in Mexico and Austin. I’d say that in São Paulo we were not far from saying that we were on the right track. That’s positive for the team and also psychologically. You always improve a little everywhere, in every single aspect. It’s the best preparation for 2026. But the most important part of this objective is that we agreed from the start that we would invest our maximum energy in the future. We have to react as a team.”
Managing the 2025 transition
Choosing the right moment to shift resources to the development of the next car, the first under the new technical regulations, has been a key topic for all teams this year. Moving resources so early to try to gain an advantage entails facing many challenges over a long period, as has been evident when observing Ferrari’s championship from the outside.
Within the team, the difficulties were largely psychological. Fred Vasseur assured that the decision was always shared by everyone, despite the drivers’ occasional statements—and the highly discussed public reprimand from President John Elkann. “First of all, this decision was shared by everyone in the team. At some point, looking at the championship, you say: ‘OK, it will be very difficult to catch McLaren with the pace delta and points gap,’ and you say: ‘OK, these are at least the resources we have in the wind tunnel; let’s focus on ’26.’ On the other hand, you can still continue to develop the mechanical side, make some updates to the car, and that’s what we did—it was a good exercise. The drivers were part of this decision because they are committed to the project, and it’s something we all have to share. In these situations, you have to act as a team, and that’s what we did.”
Qatar weekend
In the only free practice session at Lusail, Ferrari faced obvious difficulties: “I don’t think we should give too much importance to what happened in FP1,” Fred Vasseur reassured. “We had some steering issues, but it’s no secret, since Charles complained several times over the radio. We will definitely work on it and resolve it before the Sprint Qualifying.” – the French manager pointed out.
The Ferrari team principal concluded by highlighting this year’s tight competition: “We had a different ranking in every session of the weekend. The grid is so close that it takes very little to gain positions. We need to maintain this kind of mindset and try to improve the car for the next sessions.”
