After the two-faced Sprint Qualifying at Spa, Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur commented on the performance of the SF-25 and its two drivers during Friday’s Belgian Grand Prix session, as well as the complexity of interpreting a weekend marked by variable weather and very different technical setups among teams.
“Max Verstappen chose a setup with very low aerodynamic downforce. It’s clear that the two McLaren cars are competitive, as is Max Verstappen, and tomorrow in the race they will have impressive straight-line speed. But this is a common choice: everyone is looking for the right compromise between downforce and speed,” Fred Vasseur explained, highlighting how aerodynamic configuration is a key theme at Spa-Francorchamps.
Setup and Upgrades: Ferrari Seeks the Right Balance
Ferrari introduced a new upgrade package specifically for the Belgian GP weekend, but Fred Vasseur urged caution in judging immediate effects: “This weekend all the teams brought upgrades. Even if you make progress of two or three tenths, the field remains very close. This is a good sign for Formula 1 but makes the work more difficult for everyone.”
According to the team principal, finding the best setup is still a work in progress for Ferrari: “We still need laps to find the optimal setup and fully exploit the car’s potential. The drivers are close together, with minimal gaps. Spa is a constant challenge with many ups and downs and high-speed corners that make every technical choice crucial.”
He then commented on what happened to Lewis Hamilton, who was shockingly eliminated already in Q1: “The second lap went badly, then he made a mistake. But the real pity was the error on the first attempt. He was going very fast, then lost the car partly because of what had happened to Antonelli just seconds before.”
Saturday’s Sprint Race will also be an opportunity to gather useful data ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix: “We will run the first laps with a lighter fuel load, but it will be useful to understand how the car behaves in race configuration. In Sprint weekends, it is essential to optimize every useful moment to collect information,” Fred Vasseur concluded.
