Fred Vasseur believes Charles Leclerc had the pace to fight for victory at the Spanish Grand Prix if Ferrari had received the second Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car it was expecting. Charles Leclerc led 35 of the 57 laps at Madrid’s Madring circuit after starting on the Hard tyres, but Ferrari’s strategic gamble ultimately left him fourth, while Lewis Hamilton retired early with a serious brake problem.
Ferrari led for more than half of the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix thanks to an excellent performance from Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque moved into first place after the Virtual Safety Car because his SF-26, which had started on a set of Hard tyres, stayed out rather than making a pit stop.
Ferrari finds stronger race pace in Madrid
The Scuderia leaves Madrid without a podium for the fourth consecutive race. Unlike at Monza, however, where Ferrari had not shown the required pace, the car appeared highly competitive in race conditions at Madring. Once again, the Maranello team paid the price for its inability to fully express the SF-26’s potential over a single qualifying lap. On circuits where overtaking is difficult, track position can heavily influence the final result.
That made Saturday’s performance particularly costly despite the expectation that the SF-26 could be better suited to Madring than Monza. Ferrari eventually came away with Charles Leclerc in fourth place and Lewis Hamilton retiring during the opening stages after suffering a severe brake problem.
Fred Vasseur therefore had little reason to celebrate, although the Ferrari team principal could still see encouraging signs in the Scuderia’s race pace. In his view, another neutralisation could have completely changed the outcome for Charles Leclerc.
“Yes, we were unlucky. We knew every team would start one car on the Soft tyres and the other on the harder compound. We did the same thing. Charles did a very good stint on the Hard tyres.”
Fred Vasseur: Another Safety Car could have put Ferrari in victory fight
While leading the race, Charles Leclerc continued hoping for another neutralisation that never arrived. Ferrari had built its strategy around the possibility of another opportunity to stop under reduced-speed conditions.
“We were expecting another Safety Car or a Virtual Safety Car. Before the race, we had predicted two neutralisations, but they didn’t happen. At least we tried. The pace was there and the speed was very good.”
“We know that, in the end, the timing of the stop wasn’t optimal, but when you are fourth, in the end it doesn’t change very much.”
Vasseur was then asked who Ferrari had actually been racing against while Charles Leclerc was leading by himself at the front.
“Yes, because George Russell still had to stop for a second time and we didn’t know when he was going to do it. We were on the Hard tyres, and the hard compound was very good, so we had to control the position and then see how things developed.”
The presence of Mercedes and George Russell behind Ferrari added another variable, but the Scuderia’s approach depended primarily on whether another neutralisation would arrive.
Asked whether it had been a strange situation to manage from the pit wall, Fred Vasseur explained that Ferrari had effectively been running two possible races at the same time.
“Well, we did two races in one. The first scenario included another Safety Car, and in that case we would have been fighting for first place. But without the Safety Car, we had to settle for fourth.”
Charles Leclerc earns praise for executing Ferrari strategy
The unusual strategy also left Charles Leclerc needing to manage a target lap time without knowing exactly where the race would ultimately place him relative to his rivals.
“Well, it is certainly difficult, but we had given Charles a pace to maintain and he reproduced it perfectly. We focused on the lap time he needed to do, and there was no point sitting there thinking about different options. Charles honestly did a very good job and was very solid.”
Fred Vasseur was particularly impressed by the consistency Charles Leclerc showed while extending the life of his tyres and maintaining the pace Ferrari required.
“He didn’t make a single mistake in 49 laps on old tyres while pushing like crazy, and I think we got the maximum. I think that if we were missing something, it wasn’t in the race, but a little bit at Monza and a little bit in qualifying here. Yes, and perhaps one or two drivers could have aimed a little higher.”
The result reinforced the contrast between Ferrari’s qualifying and race performance in Madrid. Although the final fourth place extended the team’s run without a podium, Charles Leclerc’s long stint at the front showed that the SF-26 possessed considerably stronger race pace than Ferrari had demonstrated at Monza.
Charles Leclerc facing another Ferrari engine penalty
Fred Vasseur also admitted to French television that Charles Leclerc will, sooner or later, be forced to take another power-unit penalty. Ferrari has already had to carefully manage its engine pool, with the team’s recent ADUO-2 power-unit situation following Charles Leclerc’s Monza crash adding another factor to the second half of the season. It remains to be seen when Ferrari will choose to absorb the next penalty.
Fred Vasseur confirms Lewis Hamilton suffered brake problem
While Charles Leclerc was able to complete the race, Lewis Hamilton’s afternoon ended almost immediately. The seven-time world champion developed a serious braking issue and rapidly fell down the order before Ferrari called him back into the pits.
Asked whether Ferrari already knew exactly what had gone wrong on Lewis Hamilton’s car, Fred Vasseur said the team had not yet identified the precise cause.
“No, not yet, but he had a brake problem. He lost the brakes at one point and then we decided to stop the car because, on this type of circuit, it was too dangerous to continue.”
Lewis Hamilton’s retirement ended what had initially promised to be another opportunity for Ferrari to fight near the front in Madrid. The full extent of the problem will require further analysis, but the team’s decision to retire the car reflected the seriousness of the braking issue. More details on Lewis Hamilton’s Spanish GP brake failure emerged after his early exit.
For Ferrari, Madrid therefore delivered a mixed verdict. The result was another disappointing one on paper, but the race provided evidence that the SF-26 had competitive pace in Charles Leclerc’s hands. Fred Vasseur’s assessment was clear: Ferrari extracted close to the maximum from the race it actually had, but the second neutralisation on which its alternative strategy depended never came.
