Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes the Italian team made progress in outright performance at the 2026 United States Grand Prix, but insists he cannot be satisfied without a victory. Despite Charles Leclerc finishing second and Lewis Hamilton taking fourth at Circuit of the Americas, the French manager identified Ferrari’s two decisive Q3 laps as a major missed opportunity during the Austin weekend.
Ferrari delivered a competitive race performance, with Charles Leclerc fighting back to secure another podium and Lewis Hamilton finishing strongly despite a late Virtual Safety Car limiting his opportunity to attack Max Verstappen for third. Fred Vasseur praised the team’s race pace and strategy while explaining the qualifying difficulties that may have prevented an even better result.
Ferrari fights back in Austin as Charles Leclerc finishes second
Ferrari made an encouraging start to the United States Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc moved ahead of both Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen during the opening stages, while Lewis Hamilton also gained a position against the French Red Bull driver.
However, Max Verstappen soon reclaimed his position from Charles Leclerc, with Ferrari facing a significant power-unit performance deficit compared with its direct rivals. The race then entered a more strategic phase, with the Maranello team needing to manage its tyres carefully while remaining within reach of the leading positions.
Charles Leclerc’s overall tyre management proved particularly effective. Following his second pit stop, the Monegasque benefited from Ferrari’s strategy and progressively recovered to second place, completing another podium finish for the Scuderia.
Lewis Hamilton also became increasingly competitive as the race progressed. The seven-time world champion ultimately finished fourth, narrowly missing an opportunity to challenge Max Verstappen for a podium that would have been particularly valuable for Ferrari.
The team’s performance followed a weekend in which Ferrari had introduced four aerodynamic upgrades to the SF-26 at Austin, as it continued working to improve the car’s competitiveness against Mercedes and Red Bull.
Fred Vasseur explains why Lewis Hamilton missed Austin podium chance
Speaking after the United States Grand Prix, Fred Vasseur first addressed the unfortunate timing of the late Virtual Safety Car, which restricted Lewis Hamilton’s chances of fighting for third place.
“With the VSC at the end, Hamilton was somewhat prevented from attacking Verstappen.”
The Ferrari team principal then assessed the overall result, acknowledging the challenge of recovering from the team’s qualifying positions while expressing satisfaction with its pace and strategic execution.
“Starting from fourth and fifth, it was difficult to imagine doing better. Good pace, good strategy. We had to be aggressive, which is why we chose the two-stop strategy.”
For Ferrari, the aggressive strategic approach helped both drivers make progress during the Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc recovered to finish ahead of Max Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton ended the afternoon close to the podium positions.
However, Fred Vasseur’s assessment made clear that a strong recovery on Sunday did not entirely compensate for the opportunities lost earlier in the weekend.
Fred Vasseur identifies Ferrari’s two missing Q3 laps in Austin
Fred Vasseur was particularly direct when asked whether he should be satisfied with Ferrari’s performance. Although the result represented an encouraging step forward, the French manager made clear that his ultimate measure of success remained winning races.
“In my job, you should only be satisfied when you win, and we probably missed the two most important laps of the weekend, those in Q3. Nevertheless, we have made steps forward overall in terms of outright performance and potential.”
The Ferrari team principal therefore considered the Austin weekend positive in terms of overall competitiveness, even if the outcome was not the victory the team wanted. Given the power-unit deficit to its direct competitors, Ferrari would have struggled to achieve a substantially better race result.
The comments also underline the importance of qualifying when evaluating Ferrari’s weekend. Starting fourth and fifth left Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton needing to recover positions against strong rivals, even though the SF-26 demonstrated competitive pace during the Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s ability to convert grid positions into race results can be explored through the ScuderiaFans Ferrari Qualifying & Race Performance Statistics, which track the relationship between qualifying performance and Grand Prix finishing positions.
The team’s qualifying concerns followed an Austin weekend in which the SF-26 had shown contrasting characteristics. Earlier analysis had highlighted how Ferrari gained downforce but continued to struggle on the straights, illustrating the performance compromises that remained with the updated car.
Fred Vasseur explains Ferrari’s tyre difficulties in Austin qualifying
Fred Vasseur was also asked about the problems Charles Leclerc encountered during qualifying, particularly the difficulties the Monegasque had reported when attempting to manage his tyres.
According to the Ferrari team principal, the changing conditions made it extremely difficult for drivers to extract consistent performance from their cars during the decisive Q3 runs.
“Yesterday was very difficult. Russell, Verstappen and Piastri didn’t improve in Q3 either. With these cars, the wind or a couple of degrees less in track temperature is enough to change how the tyres react. You lose grip.”
His explanation highlighted the sensitivity of the current Formula 1 cars to relatively small changes in track conditions. Even a modest variation in temperature or wind could affect the response of the tyres and make it harder for drivers to improve their lap times.
For Charles Leclerc, this difficulty was particularly frustrating after Ferrari had demonstrated encouraging performance earlier in the weekend. The team had already shown promising pace during Friday practice at Circuit of the Americas, but converting that potential into the decisive qualifying laps proved more complicated.
Fred Vasseur’s assessment suggested that Ferrari’s failure to maximise Q3 was not simply an isolated problem affecting its drivers. Several competitors also struggled to improve when conditions changed, making the final qualifying session particularly demanding.
Ferrari faces new cooling and downforce challenges at Mexican GP
Looking ahead to the following weekend, Fred Vasseur acknowledged that the Mexican Grand Prix could present a very different challenge for Ferrari and its 2026 car.
One of the main concerns is the altitude of the Mexican circuit, which creates additional cooling difficulties. The characteristics of the current cars, particularly their aerodynamic configurations, also introduce uncertainty about how they will perform at the venue.
“We don’t know whether Mexico will be good for these cars, given the cooling problems caused by the altitude. And we’ll be going there for the first time without the large wings we had in the past. Downforce will be low, so we’ll need to adapt. I think FP1 will be entirely focused on finding grip.”
The Ferrari team principal therefore expects the opening practice session in Mexico to be particularly important. Finding sufficient grip while adapting to the circuit’s cooling and aerodynamic demands will be a central part of the team’s preparations.
After an encouraging Austin weekend, Ferrari now faces the challenge of carrying its improved outright performance into a venue with significantly different characteristics. The second-place finish for Charles Leclerc and fourth place for Lewis Hamilton demonstrated progress, but Fred Vasseur’s message remains clear: the Maranello team must improve its qualifying execution and continue developing its competitiveness if it wants to return to winning races.
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