Scuderia boss Fred Vasser explained that he has no doubt that the “sacrifice” of this year’s Formula 1 season since the spring, when it became clear in Maranello that McLaren was far ahead in terms of performance, was the right one. Although the Italian team lost several million dollars by losing second and third place in this year’s constructors’ championship.
Early commitment to the 2026 car is particularly crucial, given that the regulations are changing radically in both power units and aerodynamics – and it also ensures more time in the wind tunnel for the Italian team.
This time, remember, increases for each team in the following six months, the lower they finish in the constructors’ championship. And in ’26, as the teams will rapidly develop their new cars based on their initial initial design, time in the wind tunnel will be valuable.
Vasser revealed last Friday (28/11) that Ferrari had already transferred all its resources to the development of the 2026 car since the end of April – despite the Scuderia presenting the new aerodynamic package and then the new rear suspension of this year’s problematic SF-25 in the summer.
When asked if Ferrari could squeeze more performance out of the SF-25 with further development, the Frenchman admitted it: “Something was missing, probably yes,” he said. “Because when we made the decision to focus on ’26, it meant we weren’t sure we would catch McLaren until the end. That was the logic behind the choice and, honestly, I think today it was the right one. What I probably underestimated was that, when everyone knows that the car is not going to develop any further, it is harder to keep the employees – not with a sense of motivation, because our work is motivating in itself, but – with a sense of expectation. And that is important.”
This was evident in the expressions and words of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after the extremely disappointing Qatar GP. The Ferrari drivers looked even more disheartened than usual, having tried to find the speed of an SF-25 that was behaving completely unpredictably.
“When you make the decision as a team – like ‘we have this plan, this is the development curve for the new car, this is the one for the old one’, or ‘if we continue to develop the old car we will catch up to McLaren in 10 races’ or whatever – it is a perfectly logical decision,” continued Vasser.
“But when you go in front of the cameras, it is an emotional moment. I understand that. They give everything over the three days. We heard [Leclerc] on the radio at the end of the race saying that he pushed like crazy from the first lap on Friday to the last lap on Sunday. Maybe he pushed harder than some of the times he has won races.
I understand the disappointment when you give everything for eighth or ninth place. But if you asked them today if they would have made a different decision, I think they would agree,” added the French Scuderia boss.
Finally, speaking about Ferrari’s recent difficulties, Vasser stressed: “It was a matter of settings. The ‘window’ [of settings] is very narrow. And with such small differences between the cars, if you lose two or three tenths, you are behind. It has been like this since the middle of the season, it will be like this in Abu Dhabi.
If you don’t do a good job with the setup, you can find yourself out of Q1. In the past, even if you were two or three seconds behind the car’s potential, it wasn’t a big deal. But today it is,” concluded Fred Vasser.
