Fred Vasseur Hints Ferrari Is Already Shifting Focus to 2026 F1 Season Amid Difficult 2025 Campaign
Scuderia Ferrari, the iconic Italian Formula 1 team based in Maranello, appears to be gradually redirecting its attention and engineering resources towards the 2026 Formula 1 season. This is based on recent remarks made by Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur, who has suggested that the team’s priorities are beginning to shift despite the 2025 championship still being at its halfway point. Fred Vasseur indicated that the Ferrari technical department is already laying the foundation for its 2026 challenger in light of the sweeping changes coming to the sport’s technical regulations.
This forward-looking approach is emerging in the context of an increasingly difficult campaign for the Maranello-based squad, a season so far dominated by the resurgent McLaren Formula 1 team. The Woking outfit, led on track by drivers such as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, has firmly established itself as the dominant force in both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships. McLaren has already claimed victory in nine of the first twelve Grand Prix events contested during the 2025 season, pulling away with a commanding lead in the standings.
Frédéric Vasseur has openly acknowledged that catching the papaya-coloured McLaren cars now appears to be an unattainable goal. His latest assessment came in the aftermath of a disappointing outing for Scuderia Ferrari at the British Grand Prix held at Silverstone Circuit. At that event, British driver Lewis Hamilton—who joined Ferrari at the start of the 2025 season after his long career with Mercedes-AMG Petronas—was narrowly denied a podium finish, ending the race in fourth place. He was beaten to the third step of the podium by Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, who delivered an impressive and somewhat unexpected performance.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate, Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, also endured a challenging race day, ultimately crossing the finish line in fifth position. These underwhelming results served to underline Ferrari’s ongoing struggles during the 2025 Formula 1 season. Despite currently sitting in second place in the Constructors’ Championship standings, Ferrari remains winless this year and is now 238 points adrift of championship leaders McLaren, having accumulated a total of only 222 points after twelve rounds.
Frédéric Vasseur admitted that within the team, there is a growing consensus that a title comeback is no longer within the realm of realistic possibility. He stated that Ferrari is “lucid,” or clear-headed, about the challenge it faces, and that the performance advantage McLaren currently enjoys is simply too significant. While the Scuderia has shown flashes of competitiveness on particular circuits or in specific weather conditions, McLaren holds the upper hand overall with a consistently faster and more complete package. Vasseur explained that, even under the most optimistic scenario—winning every single remaining race—it is still uncertain whether Ferrari would be able to claim the championship title by the end of the year.
Given this stark reality, Vasseur confirmed that Ferrari’s leadership has already started to reallocate strategic focus and technical resources toward the development of its car for the 2026 Formula 1 season. That upcoming year will mark the beginning of a major new regulatory era in Formula 1, with significant changes expected in both power unit specifications and aerodynamic frameworks. Frédéric Vasseur emphasized that Ferrari has already begun internal discussions about how to balance its ongoing 2025 campaign with the necessity of preparing for what could be a transformative period in Formula 1 history.
The early shift in focus is not limited to management and technical directors alone. Seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who joined Ferrari in a high-profile move ahead of the 2025 season, has also publicly urged the team to begin prioritizing development of the next-generation car. Following the British Grand Prix at Silverstone—where Hamilton failed to finish on the podium at his home race for the first time in more than ten years—the British driver did not shy away from sharing his disappointment regarding the Ferrari SF-25’s overall behavior and performance.
Lewis Hamilton described the SF-25 as one of the most difficult Formula 1 cars he has ever driven at the Silverstone Circuit, particularly under changeable and tricky track conditions. He commented that the car does not respond well to such scenarios, and that several of its design characteristics simply must not be carried over into the 2026 challenger. He indicated that he plans to sit down with the engineers and technical team responsible for designing the next car in order to ensure that the fundamental flaws of the SF-25 are properly addressed.
These sentiments echoed similar remarks Lewis Hamilton made one week earlier, following the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. There too, the British veteran called on Ferrari to adopt a more forward-thinking strategy by channeling development efforts away from the 2025 project and toward 2026. Hamilton stated that in his view, the team should be fully committed to building a car capable of delivering results under the new technical rules. He expressed confidence that other leading teams on the grid—such as Mercedes and possibly even Red Bull Racing—have already begun working on their 2026 designs in earnest.
Hamilton specifically highlighted that one of the most crucial elements for success under the new regulations will be the development of a strong and reliable power unit. He also pointed to the importance of selecting the right technical philosophy, particularly when it comes to the suspension system and overall chassis concept. The British driver noted that he is already collaborating closely with Ferrari’s engineering group in an effort to identify and resolve the persistent issues that have plagued the SF-25 during the current season.
With McLaren continuing to stretch its advantage at the top of the Formula 1 standings, the prospect of a Ferrari comeback in 2025 now seems increasingly unlikely. Instead, Frédéric Vasseur and Lewis Hamilton both appear to be aligning around a shared objective: to ensure that Scuderia Ferrari is not only competitive but potentially dominant when the sport undergoes its next major evolution in 2026. While there are still race victories to fight for in the remaining rounds of the 2025 calendar, Ferrari’s leadership seems determined to avoid falling behind once again when Formula 1’s new era begins.
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