Ferrari turnaround from being “in the s***” promising for future F1 charge

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes the way the Scuderia reacted to being “in the s***” earlier in the year provides promise for its 2025 Formula 1 campaign.

The Italian marque finished runner-up to McLaren in the constructors’ standings despite a late-season charge, having fallen behind the eventual champions and Red Bull early in 2024.

But wins for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in a relentless push almost saw Ferrari overcome the margin to the top, though it proved too much to do as Lando Norris’swin in Abu Dhabi wrapped up the crown for McLaren.

Given its struggles early in the year, particularly in Spain (Ferrari finished fifth and sixth) and Austria (Sainz took third but Leclerc returned pointless), when asked what the most positive aspect of the campaign was, Vasseur replied: “I think it was the fact that we improved and we were able to react in the tough moments.

“To have a good team dynamic and do good results, it’s one thing, but to react when you are in the shit like we were in Spain and Austria, it’s quite important for the future of the team.

“It’s this kind of reaction that we are building up [for] the future, that trust that we can have in each other, and I think it was the most important step of the season.”

Given the diminishing returns from development as F1 enters the final year of the current technical regulations, Ferrari is again likely to contend for a first title of any kind since the 2008 constructors’ championship.

On the main topic on Ferrari’s agenda, Vasseur explained: “I don’t know, because I think it would be a mistake to think that there is one thing.

“If you want to do a good job, you have to be focused on every single pillar of the performance, on every single area.

“It is true for every single part of the car but I don’t want to start going through the list, because if I do that, I don’t want to point a finger at one group. But I think in every single area and department of the company, we just have to do a better job.

“This is not a criticism, it’s just that it has to be the mindset of the team that we have to come in each morning and try to do a better job than yesterday and try to improve what we are doing by hundredths of seconds. But this mindset is general for sport and if we don’t have it, we are dead.

“I will continue to push. I will continue to push all [with praise] that they are first to be convinced that they are all a performance contributor on every level. And on every single area, we have to do a better job than 2024.”