Fred Vasseur reflects on problems afflicting the 2025 project: “SF-25 is sensitive, but upgrades are on the way”. Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur discusses the SF-25's sensitivity.

A Ferrari second in the championship
After finishing 2024 well, Ferrari’s aim was to fight for this season’s world title. After nine Grands Prix, the Reds are second in the Constructors’ standings, yet they have not taken a single victory (three podiums, all with Charles Leclerc) and are 197 points behind the dominant McLaren Mercedes. In short, it is a complicated moment for the Prancing Horse, which again this year seems forced to postpone its hopes of winning the championship to the following season.

Fred Vasseur explains
In an interview granted to Jacopo D’Orsi of La Stampa, team principal Frédéric Vasseur tried to outline the difficulties of the 2025 project: “On race pace we are more or less there. The characteristic of this car is that it suffers much more in qualifying than in the race, more markedly than last year. At Jeddah the pole was three-tenths away, yet in the Grand Prix we were the fastest. At Imola we were nowhere on Saturday and the next day we came back. With four teams at the top, if you want to win you cannot afford to start on the third or fourth row.”

Fred Vasseur is not harsh with the SF-25 and even jokes about it: “One word to define it? Red,” before offering a more precise analysis: “Sensitive. Because sometimes we manage to extract the maximum, but not always. I do not know whether it is a difficult car; I know that we struggle to put it in the right window to make the tyres work at their best. The qualifying sessions at Imola and Miami were emblematic, where we were faster on used tyres. I had never seen that in my life.”

Updates and objectives
In this situation Fred Vasseur tries to indicate the way forward: “Now fighting for the title is more difficult, considering McLaren’s advantage and consistency. We must stay focused on ourselves, as twelve months ago; even then I never thought about the championship. I would like the same approach from the team. The reaction has been good, as Monte Carlo and Spain show. Now we need confirmation.”
Asked about updates and whether a new floor and revised rear suspension will arrive between Canada and Silverstone, Fred Vasseur replied: “I can say that we have some development on the way; it is not yet time to think only of 2026, even though we are all close to having to.” This last remark is an indirect response to Lewis Hamilton and his statement on the Saturday in Barcelona.