Fred Vasseur admitted that fifth and sixth places were not what Ferrari expected from Dutch Grand Prix qualifying at Zandvoort, after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc secured only the third row of the grid. The Ferrari team principal believes the Scuderia struggled to find the right approach throughout the session, particularly with tyre preparation and changing conditions, while McLaren again proved more effective over a single lap.
There is, however, one potential strategic benefit for Sunday. Ferrari has preserved a fresh set of Soft tyres, giving the team an additional option for the Grand Prix. Whether that advantage can compensate for starting further back than hoped is another question, especially after the Sprint highlighted just how difficult overtaking can be around Zandvoort.
Fred Vasseur admits Ferrari missed its Dutch GP qualifying target
“P5-P6 was clearly not the target,” Fred Vasseur explained. “I think we struggled in all three sessions, between doing a preparation lap and the alternative of pushing straight away, and with the rain arriving at the end we lost our way a little.”
Ferrari had looked capable of more earlier in the weekend, particularly after Charles Leclerc finished second in the Sprint and Lewis Hamilton also showed encouraging race pace. However, the final qualifying positions confirmed the difficulties already visible in the detailed analysis of Ferrari’s P5-P6 Dutch GP qualifying result.
Fred Vasseur nevertheless identified one positive consequence of Ferrari’s tyre usage. “The positive is that we have an extra set of Softs for tomorrow,” the Ferrari team principal said.
Yet the French manager also acknowledged the trade-off involved. Track position is particularly valuable at Zandvoort, where overtaking opportunities are limited, meaning Ferrari might ultimately have benefited more from using that tyre in qualifying if it had produced a better grid position.
“We saw this morning that it is very difficult to overtake, and that means perhaps it would have been better to use up the set and be in a better position on the grid,” Fred Vasseur admitted.
McLaren’s qualifying advantage remains Ferrari’s bigger concern
The light rain that arrived towards the end of qualifying made Ferrari’s task more complicated, but Fred Vasseur does not believe the weather was the fundamental reason Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc ended up fifth and sixth.
“For sure the rain didn’t help us, but I don’t think it was the main problem, because McLaren was a couple of tenths ahead throughout the session, probably three at the end,” Fred Vasseur explained. “The most important thing is that one or two tenths that determined the positions.”
Those small differences are especially significant in an extremely close qualifying field. A deficit of only one or two tenths can move a driver several places down the grid, which helps explain how Ferrari could remain reasonably competitive without challenging for the front row.
The situation also fits the broader technical challenge identified ahead of the weekend, when the Zandvoort Sprint format, tyre preparation and changing conditions were expected to make finding the correct operating window particularly difficult.
“We are a step behind McLaren this weekend,” Fred Vasseur acknowledged. “They are probably one or two tenths faster and depending on the circumstances that can mean third or fourth, or even further back.”
Lewis Hamilton’s Sprint pace eases concerns over the new SF-26 floor
Lewis Hamilton had shown good pace during the Sprint, and Fred Vasseur also explained the strategy Ferrari had used with the seven-time Formula 1 world champion. The plan was to manage the tyres in such a way that Lewis Hamilton would have more performance available towards the end of the race, potentially allowing him to attack Max Verstappen.
“You need a big pace advantage to overtake because it is very difficult,” Fred Vasseur said when explaining why the move never materialised.
The Ferrari team principal nevertheless stressed that “the pace this morning was good for Lewis”, an important observation because it reduces concerns that Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties could have been caused by Ferrari’s new SF-26 floor. The revised component forms part of the team’s major Zandvoort floor and aerodynamic upgrade package.
Instead, Fred Vasseur believes the qualifying problem was more closely connected to how the lap developed during preparation and the consequences that followed.
“He had to slow down on the preparation lap and then he had a problem at Turn 1, then he had to use the battery in that situation and after that he was forced to chase, and he kept losing time,” Fred Vasseur explained.
That sequence left Lewis Hamilton trying to recover performance rather than building the lap in the planned way, illustrating how quickly a minor disruption can become costly when the margins separating the leading teams are measured in tenths.
Ferrari believes McLaren handled tyre preparation better
Tyre preparation remained one of the major themes of the session. Ferrari had to decide whether to attack immediately or complete an additional preparation lap, while McLaren appeared to judge the decisive moments more effectively.
“I think McLaren did a good job by immediately committing to just one preparation lap in Q2, and in the end we saw the result,” Fred Vasseur said.
Ferrari’s difficulties in identifying the ideal preparation sequence are particularly relevant at Zandvoort because tyre temperatures, wind and changing weather can quickly alter the amount of grip available. Those factors have been central to the Scuderia’s weekend, alongside the challenge of extracting the full performance of the updated SF-26.
For Lewis Hamilton in particular, building confidence and finding the correct tyre window have been recurring themes around Zandvoort, with further updates available through the dedicated Lewis Hamilton Ferrari coverage.
Fresh Soft tyres leave Dutch GP strategy open for Ferrari
Despite the disappointment of qualifying, Fred Vasseur believes the tyre picture could make Sunday’s Grand Prix more open. Ferrari found the Soft compound worked well during the Sprint and, according to the team principal, its behaviour was not dramatically different from the Medium in the key areas of pace and degradation.
“This morning the Softs worked well and I think they are quite similar to the Mediums in terms of pace and degradation, which means everything is open for the race,” Fred Vasseur explained.
That makes Ferrari’s unused fresh Soft set potentially valuable. The team now has another strategic option available from fifth and sixth on the grid, although track position remains a significant concern because overtaking is difficult. Tyre selection and management were already expected to be decisive elements of the Dutch Grand Prix strategic challenge.
Sprint weekend regulations force teams to make early tyre gambles
Fred Vasseur also highlighted how the Sprint weekend format increases the risk surrounding tyre decisions. With only one free practice session before Sprint Qualifying, teams have to commit to important choices much earlier than during a conventional Grand Prix weekend.
“With FP1 you have to use the Softs to prepare for Sprint Qualifying and then you have to choose between the Mediums and the Hards, one or the other,” Fred Vasseur explained. “And clearly with this regulation you have to make a gamble before FP1, committing to a tyre for the rest of the weekend.”
Under normal circumstances, the Ferrari team principal believes that commitment can be managed. Zandvoort’s unpredictable weather and changing conditions, however, have made the decision considerably more delicate.
“When the conditions are stable, I’d say it’s manageable,” Fred Vasseur added. “This weekend is a little bit on the limit.”
Ferrari therefore enters Sunday’s Grand Prix disappointed with its third-row lockout but not convinced that the weekend is already compromised. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will start further back than the team wanted, yet a long race, the available tyre options and the possibility of gaining positions at the start still leave room for a different outcome.
“Tomorrow is another day,” Fred Vasseur concluded. “It is not the result we expected in qualifying, but the race is long and we will have plenty of opportunities at the start.”
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