23/08/2025 09:15
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has played down the suggestion
the Italian squad will be a consistent front-runner in the second
half of the campaign. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella recently
claimed Ferrari will be a "contender for victories for the
remainder of the season". His comment came after Charles Leclerc
led for much of the Hungarian Grand Prix after sealing pole
position. However, his pace dropped off in the final stages of the
race, leaving him to take the chequered flag in fourth. Ferrari is
yet to win a grand prix this year and is the only team inside the
top four in the standings waiting to do so. While it has been far
from the season Ferrari hoped for, Vasseur acknowledged his squad
has appeared to have taken a step forward over the last handful of
events. "It's mega difficult to predict also because the picture of
one day is not necessarily true the next weekend," Vasseur told
media including RacingNews365 when quizzed over Stella's
suggestion. "But at least I would say that the last two that we are
back into the pace in Spa and [Hungary]. "We are back into the
pace. 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." Vasseur suggested Ferrari is being held back by not
being able to be consistent with its pace across a grand prix
weekend. "I think that the advantage that they had [in Hungary] is
that they are always there," Vasseur said. "It doesn't matter, OK,
in quali, we were a bit better, but it was marginal. "They are
performing 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 in free practice 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."
