Andrea Stella sees Ferrari as a stiff competition for the remainder of the F1 season due to its rising performance, but Frederic Vasseur remains 50-50 about it.
The steps taken by Ferrari after the introduction of the rear suspension seem to have taken them in the right direction. They got pole courtesy Charles Leclerc in Hungary and held off McLaren in the first two stints until the Monegasque was disrupted by issues with the car.
Lewis Hamilton couldn’t show his poweress, but the pace of the car looked much better. It is still down on McLaren, considering the larger step on their side. But it hasn’t deterred team boss Stella to not see them as a big threat for race wins in the second half of the 2025 F1 season.
The title should be with McLaren on the constructors’ side, but the Ferrari drivers can disrupt the drivers’ title fight. “Not surprised, because Ferrari have been competitive over the last few races,” said Stella to media. “They were competitive in rain in Silverstone. They were competitive in Belgium. Somehow this wasn’t expressed fully.
“I think we saw in Hungary that they were in condition to score the pole position. And in the race, it’s not like in the first stint, we were holding back. We were trying to go as fast as possible. And Leclerc was managing the lead of the race with some degree of control. So I’m not surprised. I think Ferrari is going to be a contender for victories for the remainder of the season.
“If anything, I was a little surprised by the evolution of the final part of the race in Hungary. I’m not sure if there was any kind of problem on Leclerc’s car. But definitely, anytime we go racing for the second part of the season, we will have to take into account that in qualifying and in the race, we will have to deal with Ferrari. We will have to deal with Mercedes.
“And Max, I’m sure, will find a way to fight for victories. So there’s nothing obvious in this business. This is exactly what we said in our briefing after qualifying in Hungary, and this is what we will keep repeating ourselves in the second part of the season,” summed up Stella.
While the Italian seems to be certain about, his Ferrari counterpart Vasseur isn’t so. He agrees that they have moved in the right direction, but he knows McLaren is still out of reach. He feels McLaren is there at every step rather than bits and pieces, which their rivals find themselves in.
“It’s mega difficult to predict also because I think the picture of one day is not necessarily true the next weekend,” said Vasseur. “But at least I would say that the last two that we are back into the pace in Spa and Silverstone. We are back into the pace, we are consistent on…not the last stint. Not completely stupid, yes.
“We are quite consistent on the tyres, we are able to manage the pace, and if we are back in quali, it means that we will fight with them. I think that the advantage that they have is that they are always there. It doesn’t matter, OK, in quali, we were a bit better, but it was marginal. They are performant in every single condition, when we are a bit more inconsistent during the weekend.
“And if you want to win, we need to be very consistent in every single condition and be happy to have a good preparation for the race in Q1, Q2, Q3, with all the sets in the race, with the different compounds and so on. I think it’s clear they are a bit more performant than us,” summed up Vasseur.
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