Led by Fred Vasseur, Scuderia Ferrari had a solid finish to a disappointing 2025 F1 season as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished P4 and P8 in the Abu Dhabi GP. P4 was the end result in the Constructors’ Championship.
Fred Vasseur on set-up changes that turned around the weekend for Scuderia Ferrari at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP
During Sprint weekends and more generally recently, Ferrari struggled to nail a good set-up. Although Charles Leclerc was still regularly putting the car in (S)Q3, the SF-25 was incredibly difficult to drive. Lewis Hamilton had even bigger struggles.
In FP2, they were only P8 and P14. Big changes into Saturday helped improve their pace.
In qualifying Charles Leclerc was P5, wrestling a very snappy car into Q3. Lewis Hamilton was out in Q1 but had the pace to comfortably make Q2 with his best sectors combined. Even then he missed out by 0.008s.
Race pace was very strong. Leclerc put 25s into George Russell and kept new World Champion Lando Norris honest throughout. The seven-time World Champion charged through from P16 to get P8.
Speaking in his print media session after the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, Vasseur explained the set-up turnaround and the fine margins in F1 this year.
“It happened two or three times this year that we struggled with the initial set-up on Friday morning.
“We had a case in one or two sprint races. We had a case in Qatar last week.
“And once again, when you start and the set-up is not perfect, quickly you move from P4, P5 to P14. And it’s becoming a drama.
“We’re speaking about tenths of a second, but it’s becoming a drama […].
Praises the work done at Maranello and in Abu Dhabi
“Thanks to the job done at Maranello and on track, I think the recovery was good. But if you miss one or two sessions, you’re late on the table a couple of hundredths in two or three corners. It’s enough for you to move from P2, P3 to P5.
“I think it’s what’s happened for us this weekend. If we have a better start, probably that we do a better quali, perhaps just one tenth, but one tenth it’s a game changer today for Charles and for Lewis.
“I’m not complaining at all, because it’s the same for everybody. For me as a fan of F1, it’s part of the championship today.”
Fred Vasseur on Ferrari car handling and race focus at F1 Abu Dhabi GP
In qualifying on Saturday, Charles Leclerc was hustling and fighting his car. Q2 in particular saw the Monegasque driving over the limit akin to a rally car.
Over the 58-lap distance on higher fuel, however, the car was far more compliant. Leclerc was easily best of the rest behind Verstappen and the McLarens. He was a very comfortable P4. The 28-year-old set the fastest lap too.
With as little as a tenth covering as many as 9 cars in Q2 at the weekend, F1 has never been closer.
Vasseur cited Kimi Antonelli as an example of how close things are. One weekend you are at the front, the next buried deep in the midfield. He also discussed having bias towards a car tailored for the Grand Prix over qualifying.
“Yes, but I think sometimes you can be on the edge between quali and race approach, and I think you are probably a bit more on the race side of the set-up.
A balancing act
“But it’s always a compromise that you have to do and always a difficult choice today because in the past I think we had a delta with the car behind us that we don’t have anymore.
“Today if you are a bit more on the direction of the race that you have to fight like hell to go in Q3 and a couple of times that we are out in Q2 during the season.
“Once again I think it’s true for us but it was true for Kimi [Antonelli] yesterday also that […] two races ago he was fighting for the win and yesterday he was P15.
“I think we have to accept this; I think next year we will have a different story but with the championship that we have today we have to accept this. I would say that except McLaren and Verstappen it’s the same for everybody.
How Max Verstappen played a factor in the strategy for Scuderia Ferrari at the F1 Abu Dhabi according to Fred Vasseur
With Max Verstappen needing help from Russell, Leclerc or others to try and take the championship from Lando Norris, Scuderia Ferrari went into the F1 Abu Dhabi with an open mind on strategy. Understandably many thought the Dutchman would back the McLaren drivers up.
In the end, ultimately, the four-time World Champion drove his own race and dominated the Grand Prix.
Ferrari would end up pushing hard on the tyres as they tried to pressure the Brit. Ultimately Charles Leclerc fell short, but he gave it everything on the day. Outgoing World Champion Max Verstappen said it was “impressive to see” in the press conference.
It quickly became clear to Fred Vasseur and Scuderia Ferrari that a two-stop was best.
“Plan A [strategy] is not always the first one. It was on the edge, it was more linked to the strategy imposed by Verstappen.
“We had different scenarios for the race and depending on the first 10 laps if we push or not it would have been different.
“Quite early [on] we had the feeling that to push Norris to do mistakes it was better for us to do two stops.”
