For Fred Vasseur, the fight for the constructors’ championship will depend above all on one factor. The head of Ferrari believes that the Scuderia must continue its development pace to hope to catch up with Mercedes.
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At mid-season, Ferrari remains fully engaged in the fight for both world championships. While Mercedes maintains a comfortable lead in the constructors’ standings, the Scuderia has gradually closed the gap in recent weeks thanks to a series of upgrades brought to the SF-26.
For Fred Vasseur, this momentum must absolutely continue after the summer break. The Italian team’s director even considers it the number one priority to keep believing in the title.
A season in two parts
The Frenchman believes that the first eleven Grands Prix of the season clearly divide into two periods.
During the early rounds, Mercedes largely dominated the discussions and took a significant lead in the championship.
“The first part of the season unfolded in two phases,” explains Vasseur.
“Until the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes was untouchable. They scored about a hundred points more than us in just four or five races.”
However, the trend reversed starting from Barcelona, where Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory with Ferrari.
Since that race, the Scuderia has gained more points than Mercedes over several consecutive Grands Prix, slightly reducing its deficit in the constructors’ championship.
Continuing to develop the car
For Vasseur, Ferrari’s main strength this season lies in its ability to regularly improve its car.
Unlike McLaren, which favors large upgrade packages spaced out over time, Ferrari has chosen to introduce new parts almost at every Grand Prix.
“McLaren adopts a different philosophy. Every time they bring a big upgrade, they make a significant step forward.”
“On our side, we prefer to introduce new parts almost at every race. We absolutely must maintain this momentum.”
The head of Ferrari reminds that there are still about a dozen Grands Prix to go and that the SF-26 still has significant potential for improvement.
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“There are still eleven or twelve races left and we still have room for improvement on the chassis in practically all areas.”
Execution must also improve
While development is the top priority, Vasseur acknowledges that Ferrari must also improve certain operational aspects.
The Hungarian Grand Prix notably highlighted several errors in weekend execution.
“If I base myself only on Hungary, I would say that we need to improve in execution.”
However, the Frenchman tempers this observation by recalling that Ferrari had been particularly solid in this area since the start of the season.
The engine remains a work in progress
Another area of focus identified: the power unit.
Ferrari knows that its engine still lags slightly behind some competitors and wants to continue its development.
“We know that we still need to improve on the engine side and we will continue to work in this direction.”
Vasseur points out, however, that engine upgrades take much more time than those concerning the chassis, which limits the possibilities for quick improvement.
The priority remains clear
Despite the various identified projects, the head of the Scuderia leaves no doubt about what will be decisive in the fight for the title.
“The most important thing will be to succeed in maintaining our development pace.”
With Mercedes also preparing a significant wave of upgrades for the second half of the season and McLaren now back in the battle thanks to its latest innovations, Ferrari knows that the development war will be more intense than ever.
For Vasseur, the Scuderia’s ability to continue evolving race after race could well make the difference in the race for the constructors’ championship.
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