Ferrari leaves the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix with a far more valuable points haul than many expected before the weekend began, helped in part by mistakes and misfortune elsewhere in the field. However, Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur had plenty of reasons to be satisfied with the Scuderia’s own performance as well, particularly Lewis Hamilton’s fighting spirit and the unexpectedly competitive race pace shown by the SF-26.
Despite the significant power deficit Ferrari continues to face compared to Mercedes, the SF-26 proved capable of staying in the fight at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Attention now shifts toward the FIA’s upcoming decision regarding ADUO eligibility and the technical concessions that may follow, while Ferrari also continues pushing hard behind the scenes to unlock further performance gains.
Frederic Vasseur acknowledged that Canada could easily have turned into a far more painful weekend for Ferrari, especially on a circuit that did not appear naturally suited to the team’s package. Instead, Lewis Hamilton’s strong pace from the opening laps and Charles Leclerc’s ability to salvage points despite major struggles allowed the Scuderia to leave Montréal with a much stronger result than forecast.
Lewis Hamilton once again looked particularly comfortable in race conditions, continuing a trend seen on weekends where reduced simulator dependency appears to suit the seven-time world champion’s driving style.
Frederic Vasseur: “We are pushing incredibly hard at the factory”
“If I’m being honest, we didn’t expect to be in such a strong position here in Montréal. McLaren and Mercedes brought major upgrades, and we expected to struggle a bit. The pace from day one was already better than we expected.”
“Lewis was able to fight for second place in Q2 and in Q3 right until the final lap. That shows the car’s pace was good. In the end, he had that extra motivation fighting with Max and pushed like crazy to catch him, and he managed to do it.”
Charles Leclerc, however, faced a far more complicated weekend. The Monegasque driver struggled with brake-related confidence issues and difficulties bringing the tyres into the correct operating window, leaving him unable to extract the performance expected from the Ferrari package.
“Charles struggled a bit more and didn’t have much confidence even arriving here. In previous years, this circuit hasn’t been particularly positive for him either. He struggled to find confidence throughout the entire weekend and also in today’s race. Two or three times he had some scares, and it’s already a good thing that he brought the car to the finish, still collecting important points.”
Looking ahead, Frederic Vasseur made it clear that Ferrari is not standing still. With development work continuing aggressively in Maranello, the next major benchmark could arrive very soon: “We are pushing incredibly hard at the factory to improve the car’s performance every single weekend. I hope Spain will represent a big step forward.”
Frederic Vasseur’s post-race analysis highlights a resilient Scuderia Ferrari squad that is maximizing its scoring opportunities while managing a temporary aerodynamic deficit to the frontrunners. By capitalizing on Lewis Hamilton’s mounting confidence to secure a landmark second-place finish in Montreal, the team proved the inherent mechanical robustness of the SF-26 platform under changing track conditions. As the engineering department works to resolve Charles Leclerc’s localized brake balance variables ahead of the high-stakes Monaco Grand Prix, the focus remains firmly locked on long-term development. If the upcoming Spanish upgrade package delivers the projected aerodynamic compliance and perfectly correlates with factory wind-tunnel metrics, Ferrari will solidify its standing as an unyielding, top-tier threat for outright race victories across the remainder of the 2026 world championship.
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