Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has warned that the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix will present an unusually difficult challenge, despite the Scuderia’s encouraging performance at Austin. The French manager expects cooling demands caused by the circuit’s high altitude to become a major factor, while a significant change in aerodynamic configuration could leave Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton struggling for grip during Friday’s opening practice session.
The concern comes after Ferrari enjoyed one of its strongest weekends of the season at the United States Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc finished second and Lewis Hamilton fourth, making the Scuderia the highest-scoring team in Austin. Although Andrea Kimi Antonelli proved too difficult to beat, Ferrari’s latest aerodynamic package delivered a clear improvement, raising hopes for the remaining five races of the championship.
Fred Vasseur explains Ferrari’s unusual Mexico GP challenge
Following Ferrari’s impressive display in Texas, Fred Vasseur was asked whether the entirely different characteristics of the Mexico City circuit could also work in the Italian team’s favour. His response highlighted how difficult it will be to predict the competitive order at the next Grand Prix.
“Well, honestly, nobody knows, because it will be the most difficult exercise in terms of cooling due to the altitude. And it will also be the first time we go to Mexico with a low-downforce package, whereas normally we went there with big wings, but that won’t be the case this time,” Fred Vasseur explained.
The Ferrari team principal believes that this change will be particularly noticeable to the drivers when they first take to the circuit.
“That will be the big change: the drivers will have to adapt, and in FP1 we’ll hear them complaining about the lack of grip.”
The comments underline the uncertainty surrounding Ferrari’s prospects in Mexico. Although the latest SF-26 aerodynamic upgrades performed well in Austin, the different demands of the Mexican circuit will provide another important test of the car’s competitiveness.
Fred Vasseur praises Ferrari’s Austin performance but regrets qualifying
Ferrari began the three-race sequence in the Americas with a welcome boost in confidence. Charles Leclerc delivered another podium, while Lewis Hamilton came close to having an opportunity to challenge Max Verstappen for third place before a late Virtual Safety Car affected the closing stages.
Asked whether second and fourth represented the maximum Ferrari could have achieved in Austin, Fred Vasseur acknowledged that the team had extracted almost everything available from its race performance.
“Probably yes. It’s true that the Virtual Safety Car at the end perhaps prevented Lewis from trying to overtake Max in the final two laps, but if we were missing anything, it came from starting fourth and fifth,” he explained.
“It was difficult to imagine doing a better job than we did today. We’ll try again next week, but we’ll need a better qualifying session to start from a stronger position. Our race pace was good, and the strategy was good because it was between one and two stops, and we needed to be aggressive, so we opted for a two-stop strategy.”
Ferrari’s decision to pursue two pit stops reflected the need to attack rather than simply protect track position. However, the team’s starting positions ultimately limited its opportunities, despite the competitiveness demonstrated by both SF-26 cars.
The difference between Ferrari’s qualifying performance and its race results can also be explored through the Ferrari qualifying and race performance statistics.
Ferrari upgrades deliver progress as Fred Vasseur identifies crucial Q3 weakness
Ferrari showed competitive performance throughout much of the Austin weekend, with its final qualifying efforts representing the most obvious disappointment. Fred Vasseur believes the team made a meaningful improvement in outright speed and potential, although he maintained that genuine satisfaction should come only from winning.
“In my job, you should only be satisfied when you win and, probably, we missed the two most important laps of the weekend, namely the final two laps of Q3, because we set our fastest lap in Q2,” the Ferrari team principal admitted.
“But we have to learn from this to improve next weekend. Overall, I think we’ve made a good step forward in terms of outright performance and potential, and that’s positive looking towards the remaining races.”
The assessment provides encouragement for the Scuderia following the introduction of its latest development package. Ferrari emerged from Austin as the second-strongest team, with improvements that could prove valuable during the final five races of the season.
Why Charles Leclerc struggled with tyre grip in Austin qualifying
One of the key technical concerns during qualifying involved Ferrari’s difficulty in bringing its tyres into the correct operating window. Charles Leclerc had raised the problem after Saturday’s session, and Fred Vasseur explained how even minor changes in conditions can dramatically affect tyre behaviour with the 2026 Formula 1 cars.
“First of all, yesterday we found ourselves in a very difficult situation, because Russell, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri were also unable to improve in Q3,” he explained, referring to George Russell, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
“With these cars, a gust of wind or a couple of degrees less in temperature is enough to change the behaviour of the tyres, so the reaction of the tyres at Turn 1 was a complete loss of grip.”
The explanation highlights why Ferrari’s qualifying difficulties were not necessarily caused by a lack of underlying performance. Changes in track temperature and wind conditions affected the behaviour of the tyres, preventing the drivers from fully exploiting the pace demonstrated during other parts of the weekend.
Can Ferrari repeat its Austin progress at the Mexican Grand Prix?
The upcoming Mexico City Grand Prix will provide an important opportunity to assess whether Ferrari’s latest improvements can translate into another competitive result. The SF-26 demonstrated strong race pace in Austin, while the team executed an aggressive strategy without major mistakes.
However, Fred Vasseur remains cautious about predicting how Ferrari will perform under the very different conditions expected in Mexico. The high-altitude cooling challenge, combined with the move towards a low-downforce aerodynamic package, introduces uncertainties that will only begin to become clearer once the cars complete their opening practice runs.
For Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, adapting to the available grip will be an important part of the weekend, particularly after the tyre sensitivity Ferrari experienced during Austin qualifying.
The Scuderia therefore heads to Mexico encouraged by the progress of its latest upgrades but aware that repeating its strong United States Grand Prix performance will require another successful adaptation to the circuit’s demands. With five races remaining, Fred Vasseur’s immediate objective is to build on Ferrari’s improved competitiveness while ensuring that the qualifying opportunities missed in Austin are not repeated.
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