Why Ferrari don’t think their 2025 F1 season has been “a complete disaster”

Frederic Vasseur has dismissed suggestions that Ferrari’s 2025 F1 season has been “a complete disaster.”

Ferrari sit fourth in the constructors’ championship with two rounds to go.

They remain the only team inside the top four of the championship without a race victory, finishing on the podium just seven times.

Only 2014 and 2020 have been worse seasons for Ferrari this century, with the SF-25 falling well short of expectations.

While it doesn’t have the peaks of its predecessor in terms of outstanding race pace, it has been difficult to drive for both drivers.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have been forced to manage brake issues and plank wear throughout the campaign, often driving at a compromised pace.

This has affected Hamilton more so, whose aggressive braking style isn’t working in this year’s Ferrari.

Ferrari endured another tough weekend in Las Vegas, following on from their double DNF in Brazil.

However, Vasseur doesn’t want to be “so dramatic” about Ferrari’s season.

“For sure we are not in the situation that we didn’t score points the last weekend, but we were P2 in the championship two weeks ago,” he said.

“It’s not that it was a complete disaster. For me disaster is not the right word, but the tough side is that the last two weekends that we scored six or seven points on two weekends.

“But before this, in the championship, we were in front of Mercedes and Red Bull. It means that it’s not so dramatic.”

Vasseur ‘understands’ drivers’ complaints

With Ferrari struggling, it has led to more frequent vocal complaints from Leclerc and Hamilton.

Their unhappiness resulted in Ferrari chairman John Elkann saying that they should “talk less” and focus on the job at hand.

Vasseur empathises with his drivers’ frustrations and said that it’s normal.

“Now I can perfectly understand the drivers, they want to get more,” he added.

“And trust me that in the debriefing on the Monday morning at the factory I’m also a bit harsh. But it’s our DNA that we want to get more in any case.

“I think Max [Verstappen], he will try also to get more from his team, from everybody to do a better job. This is the DNA of everybody in the paddock, it’s not a drama.

“You always want to do a better job, it’s the DNA of the racing team, and I think if you go through the grid today, except probably Max, everybody would love to do a better job.

“It means that it’s true for us, it’s true for the team, it’s true for Charles, it’s true for Lewis, and we want to get more.

“But the only way to get more is to work harder and to come back next week with more determination, more focus and to try to avoid mistakes and to develop the car.

“But it’s nothing that we have to change drastically.”