Fred Vasseur: “Monza is an old school track, but we are not far from the right balance” | F1 Italian GP. Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur was satisfied with Monza Friday practice.

It was a positive day for Ferrari in the first two free practice sessions of the Italian Grand Prix. The Scuderia even finished FP1 on top thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s best time, followed by Charles Leclerc. In the afternoon session, Leclerc held onto second place, though not without a few mistakes, while Hamilton slipped to fifth. Overall, it was still a Friday that left Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur satisfied: “Compared to last week we have made a good step forward,” he told Sky Sport F1. “This morning went really well and it was a bit more difficult this afternoon, but we know why. We should not draw conclusions from Friday because at Monza so much depends on engine mapping and fuel levels, so we need to focus on ourselves and find the right setup for tomorrow. So far, everything looks good.”

Ferrari approached the first sessions at the Temple of Speed aggressively, on a track with very different characteristics compared to Zandvoort, where last week’s Dutch Grand Prix took place. “Monza is quite extreme in terms of downforce. We come here from Zandvoort where we ran with the opposite setup, almost the maximum downforce of the season. This means you need to adapt to extremely high speeds with very little downforce, and even the braking point is difficult to find. It is part of the game; it is always like this on Fridays. Then we work overnight and tomorrow we will be fine. We were a bit aggressive overall, especially this afternoon. Maybe we went too far, but we will have time to analyse everything. In terms of pure performance we have not made a particular step with the rear wing compared to others. It is more about the drivers finding the limit, which also makes the car easier to drive. That is not quite the right word, but at Monza it is very easy to make mistakes; it is an old school track, and with even a small mistake you end up in the gravel. You must be able to drive the car without errors – that is key for performance and confidence. Also, the fact that the kerbs are much lower than in the past has completely changed the track. We need to find the right balance to give the drivers a car that is easier to handle, to avoid mistakes and to give them confidence. We are not far from that.”

The tifosi were out in force at the Monza circuit, with many once again showing their support for Lewis Hamilton, just as they had done at the Milan event earlier in the week. It has been a challenging first season in red for the British driver, but Fred Vasseur noticed a change in his approach. “I feel that Lewis’s attitude has changed. I think he managed to reset everything and came to Zandvoort with a more aggressive mindset, which did not pay off in the end because of the crash, but the pace was there. In the end it was a tough weekend for us, but I believe it gave him confidence. He is very sensitive to the fans’ affection. In Milan they were really kind to him, and it meant he arrived at Monza on Thursday morning full of enthusiasm, with a clear head, and so far he has been doing a perfect job. The road is still long, but up to now everything has been positive.”

Fred Vasseur also commented on the new technical regulations that will come into effect in Formula 1 in 2026. “It is certainly difficult to understand: there will be more energy recovery, more driveability, turbo lag and many other aspects. But fans want to see the fight on track. The most important thing is that car performance levels are close, and whether this comes from the combustion engine or other factors does not really matter. We will take the time to explain the various characteristics of the car, but we must remember, as I said in the press conference, that we always fear change. Remember 2014? We had power units we had never seen before in F1 and the gaps were huge, but now we are all more or less on the same level. Even in 2022, when we introduced new chassis regulations, everyone was sceptical, yet in Budapest we saw five teams within a tenth. We must not fear change. Of course, I hope we do well next year, but that is another story.” – the Ferrari team boss concluded at the end of the second free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix.