Vasseur praises Leclerc after Dutch GP Sprint Qualifying and targets Hamilton balance improvement. Ferrari’s Vasseur reacts to Leclerc P3 and Hamilton P7 in Zandvoort Sprint Qualifying.

Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur praised Charles Leclerc after a strong Dutch Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying performance at Zandvoort, where the Monegasque came within hundredths of pole position. Lewis Hamilton endured a more difficult session and will start the Sprint from the fourth row, with Ferrari now focusing on improving the balance of his SF-26.

Ferrari narrowly misses Sprint pole at Zandvoort

Ferrari ended Friday at Zandvoort with mixed feelings. In Dutch Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying, the Scuderia missed both pole position and a place on the front row by only hundredths of a second.

Charles Leclerc nevertheless managed to extract virtually everything from the SF-26, delivering an excellent final lap to secure third place. He will now look to challenge George Russell and Lando Norris in the Sprint as Ferrari attempts to turn its encouraging qualifying pace into a strong result.

The performance also underlined how competitive Charles Leclerc was over a single lap at Zandvoort, with the Ferrari driver himself describing it as his best qualifying lap of the 2026 season.

Lewis Hamilton, by contrast, faces a recovery drive from the fourth row after managing only the seventh-fastest time. His result was particularly frustrating after an encouraging start to the weekend in free practice, when the seven-time world champion had shown strong pace before Sprint Qualifying.

Frédéric Vasseur praises Charles Leclerc and targets Lewis Hamilton balance fix

Frédéric Vasseur assessed the contrasting performances of Ferrari’s two drivers after the session and was particularly impressed by Charles Leclerc’s execution when the margins were at their smallest.

“Charles put in a good performance, finishing just a few hundredths away from pole. It was a great lap, in which he managed to put everything together. The session proved more difficult for Lewis, even though he had made a very good start in free practice this morning. In SQ3 he wasn’t able to complete a good lap and we need to work on the balance of the car to allow him to do better.”

Ferrari’s attention will therefore be split ahead of the Sprint. Charles Leclerc has placed himself directly in the fight at the front, while the team must find a better balance for Lewis Hamilton if he is to recover positions from seventh on the grid. The task is particularly important during a Sprint weekend, when limited practice time leaves teams with fewer opportunities to fine-tune the car, a challenge Ferrari had already anticipated in its 2026 Dutch Grand Prix preview.