Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur: “That could change everything at Madring”

The pressure is mounting on Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur: instead of celebrating Ferrari’s 255th Formula 1 pole position, the Tifosi looked on, mildly bewildered, at the results list – English superstar Lewis Hamilton in fourth on the grid, Monegasque Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc in fifth, mamma mia!

After the Monza Grand Prix, there was quite a stir in the Italian press: The race was a sporting disappointment, followed by the fierce duel between Hamilton and Leclerc; one or two newspapers south of the Alps are boldly asking just how secure team principal Fred Vasseur’s job actually still is.

We’ll leave it open as to whether Ferrari are considering a possible successor to Vasseur, but time is working against the Frenchman. Ferrari won’t be winning the World Championship in 2026 either; by 2027, it will have been 20 years since Kimi Räikkönen became the last – for the time being – Formula 1 champion in a Ferrari. The last Constructors’ Championship dates back to 2008.

Fred Vasseur has other things on his mind this Saturday evening in Madrid than statistics about Ferrari. The 58-year-old Frenchman sums up the Italians’ performance in this final practice session at the Madrid circuit as follows: “To be honest, when you’re in P1 after the first run, you naturally hope they’ll take pole.”

“Unfortunately, Lewis Hamilton then made a small mistake in the first corner during the second run. So he was already a quarter of a second behind at that stage, and it’s not easy to make up that kind of deficit.”

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“We mustn’t dwell on the qualifying result, but focus on the race straight away. This could be a chaotic Grand Prix, and we need to put ourselves in a position to capitalise on such chaos. I expect at least a few virtual safety car periods, if not actual safety car periods or even a red-flagged race.”

“We have to be prepared for anything and react flexibly. We’ve seen in the Formula 3 and Formula 2 races that the drivers struggle greatly with overtaking, even when the car behind is clearly faster. A pit stop for fresh tyres is of little use in that situation, because even with new tyres you still have to make up places. It’s very difficult to predict today how this race will unfold – because everything could hinge on how we react to safety car periods.”

“We’ve learnt a great deal about the Madrid circuit, but we can’t even trust that. The track is constantly evolving; we’ll have further support races before our Grand Prix, and that could completely change how we manage the tyres.”