Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur defended Charles Leclerc after he failed to pass Max Verstappen at the start of the 2026 F1 Singapore GP.
Off the line last Sunday, the Monegasque driver had a slightly better launch than his Dutch rival. Verstappen legally squeezed Leclerc and only gave him a cars width on the run down to Turn 1. With the Red Bull driver on the outside and having a wider and cleaner line to take into the corner as the Ferrari man was facing a very narrow and dirty line, the four-time World Champion prevailed.
Fred Vasseur on Charles Leclerc not passing Max Verstappen into Turn 1 at the 2026 F1 Singapore GP
Asked in his print media session whether he felt the 28-year-old was too cautious against his former karting rival, the Frenchman felt it would have been too much of a risk to send it down the inside. If Leclerc had braked later, it is extremely likely contact would have been made.
“Yes, but it was really on the dirty side of the track. Nobody went there from the beginning of the weekend.
“I think it was a bit ambitious to try to do something.”
Would Leclerc have won at Marina Bay if he led after the first corner?
It was then put to Fred Vasseur whether he thought Ferrari could have won the 2026 F1 Singapore GP if Charles Leclerc had taken the lead at the start.
In the opening laps of the race, the British GP winner was putting significant pressure on Max Verstappen, although the battery was proving to be a problem for the Dutchman. As the first stint went on, though, Red Bull had the edge on tyre life and performance, allowing the 73-time race winner to pull away.
Nonetheless, as the Sprint showed with Leclerc on finished tyres against the McLarens, and the fact Nico Hülkenberg was able to fend off George Russell in the Grand Prix, overtaking was virtually impossible unless you had a huge advantage, either through tyres and/or a far superior engine.
“I don’t have the crystal ball to say what would happen if we were one metre in front and we stayed ahead.
“But for sure in these conditions, when you have almost the same strategy, you start with the same tyres, you do a kind of a copy and paste. To overtake, you need to have one second, or one second and a half [of a pace advantage] in Singapore.
“I’m not sure that we had overtaking with cars with the same strategy, same tyres.”
