By DCB Editorial, July 9, 2025
Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur reflected on a “difficult weekend” at the British Grand Prix, where strategic missteps and challenging conditions hampered the team’s performance. Charles Leclerc’s race was compromised from the start after he chose to pit for slick tyres at the end of the formation lap, a gamble that backfired as he struggled in the wet-drying conditions and finished 14th. Vasseur acknowledged the decision came from the driver but admitted the team could have overruled it.
Lewis Hamilton showed promising pace as the track dried, but a slightly premature switch to slicks cost him a potential podium, finishing fourth behind Nico Hülkenberg. Vasseur pointed to Ferrari’s difficulty in overtaking in dirty air, which led to excessive tyre wear and lost time. While their downforce setup differed from rivals like Red Bull and McLaren, Vasseur believes Ferrari’s pure pace wasn’t the core issue.
He noted that only a few drivers, like Norris and Hülkenberg, likely walked away without regrets from a race where timing pit stops by even a single lap made a critical difference. Looking ahead, Vasseur emphasised the importance of focusing on qualifying and the broader championship fight.
At the halfway point of the season, Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur has admitted that closing the 238-point gap to championship leaders McLaren will be difficult. However, he remains optimistic about Ferrari’s position in the standings, highlighting the team’s competitiveness relative to key rivals Mercedes and Red Bull as a reason for continued confidence.
During a media interview, Vasseur elaborated:
“I think we are all lucid that it will be more than difficult to come back on McLaren. First they have an advantage, sometimes on some tracks or some conditions, we are able to fight with them, but overall, they have an advantage, and also they have a big advantage in terms of championship.”
“And even if you win all the races until the end, I’m not even sure that you will be champion in that for sure. But we are still in the fight with Mercedes and Red Bull. We are still in the fight to win some races, and it’s important for the team.”
“We were a step down [on downforce] compared to McLaren. We had much more downforce than Max [Verstappen], but we were also much faster than Max.”
“I’m not sure that the pure pace is the main issue today, but what is true is that on Charles, at least, the race was done on Lap 1. We made the call to pit for slicks.”
“And then the main issue we had today was that we struggle a lot when we are in the dirty air to overtake, and we spend more [tyre] life to overtake, sometimes in 10 laps, and then we are much faster. But I think it was difficult. It was a difficult weekend, difficult for the strategy today.”
“I think everybody has tonnes of regrets, except [Lando] Norris probably and Nico, but when you finish a race like this, you have always had the feeling that if I had pitted one lap before, one lap after, it would have been much better. But let’s be focused on the Quali and the championship.”