The 2025 season proved to be extremely difficult for Ferrari. Any hopes of fighting for world titles faded already in the opening races, where it became all too clear that the SF-25 was not a car capable of challenging for the championship. A lack of consistency throughout the season never allowed the Scuderia to define its true level, and Ferrari often found itself as the fourth force on the grid, sometimes even beaten by midfield cars such as Williams, Racing Bulls, and Sauber.
During the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, it emerged that Ferrari had not introduced any aerodynamic updates to the car since April. This was a strategic decision, but also a painful one, as confirmed by Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur himself:
“McLaren dominated so much in the first four or five events that we realised it would be very difficult for 2025. That meant we decided very early in the season – I think it was the end of April – to switch to ’26.”
“It was a difficult decision. Perhaps I also slightly underestimated the challenge from a psychological point of view, because when you still have 20 or 18 races to go and you know you won’t bring any aerodynamic improvements, it’s quite hard to handle mentally. But overall, we kept pushing.”
The hard work in Maranello continues, with the clear objective of giving Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton a more competitive future:
“We brought some mechanical updates and we are trying to improve our work from an operational point of view, and that is the DNA of our sport. We have to accept it. It was a decision, and I am still confident about the decision we made.”
A shared decision
“This decision was shared by everyone in the team. At a certain point, you look at the championship and you say: ‘Ok, it will be very difficult to catch McLaren with the pace delta, the points delta.’ So you say: ‘Ok, let’s focus the resources we have in the wind tunnel on 2026.’”
“On the other hand, we can continue to develop the mechanical side and bring some updates to the car, except for aerodynamics. And that’s what we did, and it was a good exercise, honestly. Of course, the drivers contributed to this decision. They are fully committed to the project. It’s something we all have to share. In these kinds of situations, you have to act as a team, and that’s what we did at that stage of the season.”
Beyond appearances: a more united team than ever
Finally, the French team principal admitted that the team will continue to work hard to deliver a 2026 season that lives up to expectations:
“This means that we have to react as a team, even when we go through difficult weekends, coming back to the factory on Monday morning and continuing to push, to develop, and to work all together. We reacted well to difficult sessions and tough weekends. We will see next year whether we also did a good job during this season,” he concluded.
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