Vasseur responds to Hamilton and Leclerc’s update demands after Imola: “Everyone wants more”. Fred Vasseur responds to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s requests for major updates.

Fred Vasseur provides a definitive response on the updates requested by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for Ferrari.

The Ferrari Team Principal reviewed the Imola GP weekend during a press conference, offering an overall positive assessment of the race, though qualifying difficulties continue to weigh heavily. Vasseur addressed the SF-25’s potential, the performance gap between Saturday and Sunday, and the drivers’ requests for updates.

Ferrari: Good race pace, but qualifying still needs improvement
Frederic Vasseur highlighted the solid race pace shown by the SF-25, with both drivers able to maintain a competitive rhythm. However, poor starting positions due to qualifying results made the weekend more difficult than expected.

“The strategy was excellent, the mechanics did a great job, and everything worked well in the race,” Fred Vasseur said. “But starting from 11th and 12th makes it hard to fight at the front. Clearly, our issue remains Saturday: we need to extract more from the car’s potential on soft tyres.”

A consistent gap between Saturday and Sunday
According to Frederic Vasseur, the main issue isn’t with the car’s concept, but rather in the handling of soft compounds and single-lap preparation.

“For several races now, we’ve struggled in qualifying, while we’re consistently more competitive in the race. In Jeddah, we were among the fastest on Sunday, but three tenths off in qualifying. Same story in Miami. We need to work on out-lap management, qualifying setup, and maximizing the soft compound.”

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc ask for updates, Frederic Vasseur stands firm
Responding to comments from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who both said they want “significant” updates to get back to the front, Frederic Vasseur replied with irony: “Everyone wants updates! I’ve never seen a driver say ‘everything’s fine, don’t change a thing.’ It’s normal for drivers to push for more performance. And I understand them. We’re pushing too: every department works every day to improve. But the difference comes down to details—tenths or even just hundredths.”

Potential still to unlock
For Frederic Vasseur, the SF-25 is not the best car on the grid, but it has good potential that has yet to be fully unlocked.

“Even if everything went perfectly, today we could aim for fourth or fifth in qualifying. That’s not enough, but execution is key—we must optimize every phase of the weekend. Today in the race we did the maximum, but we need consistency on Saturdays as well.”