Speculation regarding Fred Vasseur’s future at Ferrari seems to have died down after some successful upgrades in recent weeks.
Charles Leclerc has scored four podiums in his last six races, and the Scuderia appear to have the second-fastest car in race trim.
Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari podium feels like it’s a matter of time away, and there were more encouraging signs for the team at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Team boss Vasseur was pleased to see his cars just a few tenths behind the dominant McLaren drivers around the sport’s longest circuit. It means they should be in contention at slower tracks.
Hamilton’s onboard footage was ‘brutal’ at Spa, as he struggled to extract much one-lap pace from the SF25.
He has faced multiple issues this year, and they’re all contributing to his form. Hamilton has one big complaint at Ferrari, and he might have to wait until 2026 to find a fix.
Photo by Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesFred Vasseur believes Ferrari will be ‘battling’ Max Verstappen and Red Bull for the rest of 2025
Hamilton is doing something ‘crazy’ behind the scenes at Ferrari and is working day and night to try and bring some success to their team. He wants to end a 17-year title drought.
Great champions like Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have been unable to turn the tide for the Maranello-based outfit, but the modern era is completely different to the one they raced in.
Recent upgrades added to Hamilton’s car, including a new rear suspension, were aimed at making his car more stable under braking.
They should be able to realise how effective they were at the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix, just before the summer break. Both there and for the rest of the season, Vasseur expects his drivers to be battling Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
“Second-fastest, yes, but here by 0.03s. So, just a hair’s breadth,” he told the Italian edition of Motorsport.com.
“They were ahead of us on Friday night and in the Sprint, while we were ahead on Saturday afternoon and today. We’re battling with Red Bull and Max, and I think it will stay that way until the end of the season.”
Why Ferrari still have a lot to fight for during the 2025 Formula 1 season
Ferrari have stretched their advantage in the constructors’ championship to 28 points. They hold the aces in the fight for second place.
Leclerc wanted to take an ‘extreme’ risk at Spa by no longer needing to experiment with some questionable setups. He hoped that new upgrades would fix some issues.
Impressively, he was able to hold off Verstappen for the majority of the race to finish third, which he is making a bit of a habit of recently.
The last race before the summer break is an opportunity for him to edge closer to George Russell for fourth in the standings, with third still being a real possibility with some hard work over the next four months.