Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has identified qualifying as one of the areas the team needs to focus on, as the 2026 F1 Spanish GP showed that the drivers have the pace to compete but are disadvantaged by a comparatively poor starting position.
During Sunday’s 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Charles Leclerc took the lead of the race on lap 16 when Ferrari elected not to pit the Monegasque, who had started on the hard compound tyres, during the brief VSC period prompted by Lance Stroll stopping in the run-off. Showing great pace on the hard tyre, Leclerc maintained the lead until the final stages of the race, when he finally dove into the pit to mount the soft tyre, ultimately finishing the race in P4.
Vasseur explains Ferrari 2026 F1 Spanish GP strategy gamble
Speaking in a print media session following the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, the Ferrari team principal praised Leclerc’s hard tyre stint and explained why Ferrari elected to take a gamble with the 28-year-old’s strategy.
“The race was more than good, we did a stint of 49 laps, with the hard [tyre] and the pace was still there. But honestly, we took a bet, but all the teams did the same, with one car on soft or medium, another one on hard [tyres] to cover all the options.
“He was leading the group of hard, and I think with the second incident, the red flag, it was the win. With a safety car, he would have been P2, P3, and nothing it was P4, but it’s more a strategy than something else.
“On his side, the pace was good. It’s the only thing that we can do on Sunday. Honestly, if we miss something, it’s more yesterday, or perhaps a little bit in Monza, or yesterday.
“But today, I think we did what we have to do, but we took the risk that we have to take, and the pace is the pace that we need to have.”
Qualifying an area Ferrari needs to improve
After Friday practice, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur and Charles Leclerc predicted that qualifying would play a deciding factor for the inaugural race at the Madring Circuit. However, qualifying for the 2026 F1 Spanish GP saw Hamilton and Leclerc miss out on securing top positions as they finished the session in P4 and P5.
While Hamilton secured provisional pole on his first run in Q3, he couldn’t improve on his second, which ultimately saw him dropped to P4, when Norris, Antonelli and Verstappen all improved. Teammate Leclerc, who was running the ADUO 1 engine specification after his shunt in Monza, had to slot in behind his teammate in P5.
Given the great pace demonstrated during Leclerc’s hard tyre stint, Vasseur identifies qualifying as one of the main areas Ferrari needs to “improve” if they want to capitalize on the pace shown during the 2026 F1 Spanish GP.
“Tomorrow, we’ll have a look on the quali. It’s true that if you have a look on the fourth stint in quali, that one time it’s Max [Verstappen], one time it’s Norris, one time it’s Kimi [Antonelli], one time it’s Lewis [Hamilton]. He won on the fourth stint, but we finished the most important P4.
“We need to improve, we need to improve, because I think when you have a look on the pace during the race, the pace is there. For sure, we need to do a better job in quali. What we did at Monza was a bit different, but we had some luck. [With] some luck was the case already, that we were P3 or P4 in quali, and then the race pace was strong.”
Vasseur stresses the importance of “track position” at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
Using Leclerc’s pace during Sunday’s 2026 F1 Spanish GP as an example, Vassuer explains that Ferrari doesn’t lack pace and that it was rather a question of “track position” being a key factor during the race.
“When you see the pace of Charles [Leclerc], you can imagine that we had the pace to fight with everybody. It’s more a matter of track position. Honestly, it was mega difficult to overtake today.
“I’m more focused on my cars, but I don’t know who overtook during the race. I think that in this situation it’s just about track position. To fight is not the word; it’s more a matter of position.”
Late pit stop was to cover Russell and secure P4
On lap 49 of the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Ferrari finally opted to pit Leclerc, who, up until then, still showed great and consistent pace on the hard compound tyre. However, with chances of a late Safety Car or Red Flag, which would have likely granted the 9-time GP winner another victory or at least a podium position, diminishing, Ferrari made the call to pit to secure at least P4, explains Vasseur.
“You see that at one stage, we had Russell almost in the ghost. It was a pit stop plus 5 or plus 4, and we just wanted to cover him for sure, but you take also the risk that if you pit in the lap after, you have a red flag, but I don’t have the crystal ball.”
