Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has conceded he has “no clue” how competitive the team will be next season following a disappointing 2025 campaign.

Of the top four teams, it was Ferrari that walked away from Abu Dhabi with the biggest sense of disappointment having not won a race in a season for the first time since 2021.

Fred Vasseur makes no claim on Ferrari performance ahead of 2026

Ferrari’s lack of performance will have come as extra disappointing for the Tifosi given how they ended 2024 plus a sense of pre-season optimism and the arrival of Lewis Hamilton.

Instead, the team finished the year fourth in the standings, 435 points off winners McLaren, with Charles Leclerc in P5 and Hamilton one spot below.

This has meant an increased expectation for 2026 with Leclerc admitting it was “now or never” but team principal Vasseur, who has faced questions about his future this year, conceded he had “no clue” where Ferrari would be in the pecking order.

“I have no clue,” he told media including PlanetF1.com in Abu Dhabi when asked about Ferrari’s prospects. “You know perfectly that all sport is a comparison.

“I can do a good job, if someone did a better job, I look stupid. And that means that we are focused on a project. We are developing the project, we are pushing at the limit, and we are trying to do the best.

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“For sure, the more time you are spending on the project, the better you think it will be but I don’t know if McLaren, Red Bull or Alpine is in front of us. This, nobody knows.

“I think the most important [thing] is not to spend time to try to understand if the others are in front or behind.”

Asked by PlanetF1.com specifically on Leclerc’s comments, Vasseur played down any tension and suggested it was the natural response of a driver.

“Honestly, I think Charles, if you ever looked last year for sure, when you are going to the TV pen and you’re asking him after the session, are you happy with the session when it’s P2 or are you happy when it’s P6? it’s not the same Charles, for sure.

“But if you ask him the day after, what do you want to do with the team? I think the approach is always the same. It’s always constructive, to try to do better and even if I’m P1 I have exactly the same approach with the team on the Monday morning, when we are doing the debrief.

“To know and to understand where we can do better and it doesn’t matter if you are P1 or P10. I think the debrief today at Alpine, Williams, at Red Bull, with us is the same. Is that we are just trying to do a better job.”

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