Ferrari “underestimated” mental toll of halting 2025 F1 car development early

Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur has admitted he “underestimated” the psychological impact of halting car development early during the 2025 F1 season.

2025 has been a year to forget for Ferrari.

With two rounds to go, Ferrari sit fourth in the constructors’ championship — their lowest finish since 2020.

The team is still without a grand prix victory, making them the only squad inside the top four of the constructors’ standings without one.

The SF-25 was flawed from the off, with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton unhappy with its handling.

The car hasn’t been able to run at optimal ride height throughout the season due to poor suspension design. 

A number of upgrades improved the Ferrari package, but it’s never been enough to challenge for a win on merit this year.

Speaking during the Qatar Grand Prix, Vasseur conceded that giving up on 2025 early on affected the team.

“We didn’t start in the best way with the double disqualification in Shanghai. This cost us tonnes of points compared to our direct competitors,” Vasseur said.

“Quite early in the season, McLaren was so dominant in the first four, five events that we realised it will be very difficult for 2025. It meant we decided very early in the season to switch to 2026.

“It was a tough call and perhaps I also underestimated the psychological side as when you have 18 races to go, and you know that you won’t bring any aero development.

“It’s quite tough to manage psychologically, but overall we continued to prove we brought some mechanical upgrades and did a better job operationally. This is the DNA of our sport. We have to accept this. It was a call and I am still confident with the call that we did.”

Vasseur ‘understands’ the frustration

Frustration in recent weeks has boiled over for Leclerc and Hamilton.

After the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Hamilton declared that his Ferrari dream had turned into a “nightmare”.

This led to a response from Ferrari chairman John Elkann, who said that his drivers should “talk less”.

Vasseur backed his drivers and is fully aligned with their frustrations throughout the year.

“It was not a drama, honestly. You know my two drivers,” he explained.

“They are like they are and I perfectly accept this. I am fully aligned with this frustration but we have exactly the same on the pit wall.

“When you have the crash in Brazil and Charles is out of the race because Piastri and Antonelli are crashing together then for sure you have a huge frustration. We put so much effort in the season to fight for P2 and in one tenth of a second you are losing a potential P2. It’s huge.

“When you don’t have a good race because we have a technical issue then this frustration is part of the DNA of what we are doing. From drivers to drivers, they have different ways to express their frustration but everyone is exactly the same.”