Ferrari’s disappointing 2025 Formula 1 season has been tough to stomach for all involved – but even the one potential positive from it has had a negative psychological impact that the team didn’t fully anticipate.<\/p>\n
It’s easy to forget, given that Ferrari not winning races has become commonplace, but the start of this season was a proper suckerpunch to Ferrari’s lofty pre-season expectations, set off the back of almost beating McLaren to the 2024 constructors’ title this time last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when it became obvious that McLaren had a 2025 championship-winning car and that Ferrari most certainly didn’t, it at least gave Ferrari a clear pragmatic choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That call was to sacrifice much of 2025’s development and switch focus to 2026 earlier than its rivals, with Red Bull in particular still intent on closing down McLaren this year, even at some cost to next year.<\/p>\n
But team principal Fred Vasseur has now revealed that the psychological impact of that switch when there was still so much of the season left wasn’t predicted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Quite early in the season, McLaren was so dominating in the first four or five events that we realised it would be very difficult for 2025,” Vasseur explained.<\/p>\n
“It meant that we decided very early in the season \u2013 I think it was the end of April \u2013 to switch to ’26. It was a tough call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Perhaps I also underestimated a little bit the call on the psychological side, because when you still have 20 races to go, or 18 races to go, and you know that you won’t bring any aero development, it’s quite tough to manage psychologically.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“But overall, we continued to push. We brought some mechanical upgrades, and we are trying to do a better job operationally, and this is the DNA of our sport. We have to accept this.<\/p>\n
“It was a call, and I’m still confident with the call that we made.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ferrari did bring a suite of floor upgrades to the Austrian Grand Prix in late June and a revised rear suspension to Belgium in late July, but its aerodynamic windtunnel work has long been focused on 2026 developments.<\/p>\n
That was a decision made in tandem with the drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, neither of whom have shied away from detailing just how tough 2025 has been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“First, this decision was shared by everybody in the team,” Vasseur said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“For sure, the drivers were part of this decision. They are fully committed to the project. It’s something we have to share altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In this kind of situation, you have to act as a team, and that’s what we did in that stage of the season.”<\/p>\n