Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur shared his thoughts on Charles Leclerc not being too pleased with his second-place finish and the drivers’ reaction to the SF-26 underperforming in F1 qualifying following their haul of 30 points at the 2026 United States GP on Sunday.
Despite showing promise in the free practice sessions—having topped the timesheets in all three—Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton only managed to set the fourth- and fifth-fastest time, respectively, in Q3.
Executing a S-M-H two-stop strategy at COTA, the Ferrari drivers demonstrated strong pace and made crucial passes on Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen to come home in P2 and P4.
While the Monégasque was the faster of the two, Hamilton could’ve challenged the Dutchman for a podium finish as well if it weren’t for Valtteri Bottas triggering the VSC in the closing stages and neutralising the race.
Hamilton, currently third in the Drivers’ standings, trails George Russell by only 1 point. Meanwhile, Leclerc finds himself 8 points behind his teammate. The Italian outfit comfortably sits in second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Vasseur on why Leclerc wasn’t overly enthused about his P2 finish at COTA
Speaking in a print media session after the 56-lap F1 race, Fred Vasseur addressed Leclerc’s lack of contentment over team radio after he took the chequered flag at the 2026 United States GP.
The Frenchman explained that bagging 18 points hadn’t fully satisfied the 9-time race winner since he wanted to stand on the top step of the podium. Noting that frustration can fuel their drive at times, he also added that Ferrari outscoring their immediate rivals in recent rounds is a positive sign.
“I don’t know if you had all the radio, but very early in the race, Charles [Leclerc] was targeting P1. And when you do P2 and you target P1, you are not happy. But this I like as a feeling.
“Honestly, at the end of the weekend, I think it’s a good week, a good result for us. For the third or fourth race in a row, we are the team scoring the biggest amount of points.
“I think we are on the right way. But for sure, when you have this feeling that you are in a good shape on the weekend and you do P2, you can have also a bit of frustration. But the frustration sometimes is good.”
Vasseur reflects on Ferrari’s ongoing struggles in qualifying and the drivers’ frustration after United States GP
With regard to the SF-26 frequently plateauing in the final segment of qualifying and how he handles the drivers’ frustration, Fred Vasseur commented that the discontentment is easier to manage after a decent showing on Sunday. At the same time, he suggested that they have to pore over the data to comprehend why they fail to put together a better lap in Q3.
Reiterating that the performance of Leclerc and Hamilton in the race had pleased him, Vasseur conceded post-United States GP that he would change their final flying laps in Q3 if Ferrari could redo Saturday’s qualifying.
“The frustration of tonight will be easy to manage because I think that, overall, we collectively did well and that we have to understand what we could do differently in Q3.
“But let’s put our focus on this, because I think today, on the weekend, if I have to change something, it’s just the last lap of Q3.”
