Ferrari’s Team Principal Fred Vasseur reflects on the team’s soaring pace in practice for the 2026 F1 United States GP – leading all three sessions prior to qualifying – and how it seemed to fade away as the shootout for pole position reached its crucial point, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton only able to manage fourth and fifth on the grid, respectively, over two tenths back from pole-sitter and championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Vasseur admits “frustration” with 2026 F1 United States GP qualifying
After looking quick all weekend long, the first runs of Q3 proved disappointing for the Scuderia, with Leclerc in fourth and Hamilton in sixth – and things didn’t improve much in the second run either as the Brit made a small improvement to 5th, with a potential for pole position slipping away at the last corner for car #16, as Team Principal Fred Vasseur explained to Sky Sports:
“It’s a bit of a mixed feeling, for sure, because I think the potential was there all over the weekend, that we had a good pace in all the free practice,” he admitted. “Until the last corner, we were fighting for the pole, and it is like it is, it’s part of the game.
“For sure there is a bit of frustration, because we had a very good potential until the last corner of Q3, I think we are in a better shape.“
Vasseur: Complaining about Q3 wind would be “bullshit”
The final runs of Q3 proved tricky for most drivers, with barely any improvements set on the timing charts as the session reached its climax.
The Ferrari Team Principal explained this was down to wind picking up – but is adamant that it’s not an excuse to blame Ferrari’s lack of pace on, as it affects all teams on the same manner.
In Vasseur’s view, Ferrari had the “potential” to be on the front row, had it executed better, particularly at the final corner, which saw both Leclerc and Hamilton run wide of the apex and lose traction on exit, losing time all the way to the timing line and leading to a disappointing result in qualifying for the 2026 F1 United States GP:
“I think Q2 was a bit faster for everybody, we all struggled to improve in Q3, perhaps a bit of wind or whatever, and it’s also a distraction for the drivers.
“But it’s the same for everybody, we can’t complain about the wind, this would be bullshit,” he added. “But now I think we have to do a better job on the last lap, because we had the potential to be at least on the first row.”
Vasseur demands “calm” to analyse “potential” Ferrari pace in 2026 F1 United States GP
Vasseur believes there needs to be “calm” when analysing the team’s pace this weekend, as a few hundredths of a second could mean the difference between being on the front row and being down in sixth place, creating a “hero to zero” scenario that’s been the case for the last few races in the 2026 F1 season, including the United States GP:
“It’s true, but it’s also a matter of classification more than pure performance, that today for a couple of hundreds you can move from P2 to P6-7, from hero to zero,” he said. “And it’s a gust of wind, or one metre on the braking point, [so] we have to stay calm when we are speaking about potential, it’s a different story.
“But it’s F1, and it’s like this from now a couple of races, that for one tenth you are moving from the top to the bottom.”
“Now let’s be focused on [the race], because I think [it] will be a different exercise, it will be a difficult one with a lot of degradation, and we’ll see what happens.”
