Fred Vasseur Has to Solve a Major Ferrari ‘Problem’ Before New Upgrades Boost Their Performance

A lot more was expected of Ferrari than they have managed to deliver so far this season. Barring Lewis Hamilton’s surprise win during the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, there has barely been anything else to rejoice about for the Tifosi.

All of their rivals — McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull — have managed to register at least two podiums, whereas Ferrari have had none. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have discussed the issues in the car that are undermining their performances. The seven-time world champion has also confessed to poor performances on his part.

So, although there is no doubt that Ferrari have been all-around poor, one cannot rule them out yet. Last year, they picked up their performances in the second half of the season after some powerful upgrades.

This year, they have scheduled some upgrades too, which might be introduced soon. However, before Ferrari moves on with new upgrades, Fred Vasseur has a huge problem to solve.

“They [upgrades] will arrive soon. But before we bring new features and raise the performance level, we need to fix the balance problems we had. As soon as we can make the most of what we have today, then it will make sense to introduce new features,” said Vasseur.

At the same time, Vasseur also warned that they won’t be the only side to introduce improvements. Since Ferrari’s rivals will introduce upgrades as well, Vasseur believes, “We must not expect that in one day we can turn everything around.”

#JapaneseGP | Lewis Hamilton post race: “On our side of the garage we have a bit of a problem with our floor. That’s been there for the first 3 races.”
pic.twitter.com/xljWKCZFJX

— deni (@fiagirly) April 6, 2025

However, he does believe that the SF-25 has much more potential. For him, it’s essential that his side “extracts” all the potential by the end of this ongoing triple-header. That said, Ferrari also has mysterious problems they need to deal with.

Hamilton, after the race in Suzuka, mentioned that his side’s performances are being affected by the ‘unknown issue’. “We found something on the car that’s been underperforming for the last three races, so I’m really hoping when that’s fixed, I’ll start getting a bit better results,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leclerc said, “There was nothing more in the car.” The Monegasque revealed he took the car in a certain direction in which he feels confident, “but if that means we are P4, that is not great,” he added.

So, it is clear that if Ferrari are keen on being more competitive, they have a lot more work to do to catch up to their rivals, who will bring their own set of upgrades.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More