Ferrari Chief Reveals Mindset Ahead Of 2025 - 'Have To Improve Everywhere'

Saajan Jogia | 4 Hours Ago

Fred Vasseur / Ferrari Press Image

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur revealed the need for improvement across multiple areas ahead of the 2025 season, noting that better race results depend not only on car performance but also on other key factors. Vasseur also noted the significant progress Ferrari made from last year to this year, particularly in how the team and drivers responded to various challenges throughout the season.

Ferrari began the season on a strong note, but an upgrade package introduced in Spain disrupted the car's overall balance, leading to both drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz reporting severe bouncing issues. Although Ferrari managed to address the problem in the second half of the season, the team had already fallen significantly behind McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, despite overtaking Red Bull.

The battle for the championship ensued until the last race in Abu Dhabi, where McLaren won by an advantage of just 14 points. The close gap has offered Vasseur much-needed confidence for the upcoming season. When asked what made him optimistic about 2025, he said:

“It’s not the performance of this car, because next year it’s a new project so we’ll do a decent step forward and I’m quite pleased with the job done at the factory.

“But what is giving me confidence is more the step that we did compared to one year ago, the capacity that we had to react in the tough moment of the season, because it’s where you can see that the team is working as a team.

“When you are winning, everybody is nice, everybody is a best friend and I would say that these kind of weekends are quite easy to manage.

“It’s when you are in the tough moment that the reaction is important and we reacted each time very, very well.

“In June we came back as soon as possible with solutions, everybody was pushing in the same direction.

“I’m quite also pleased with the reaction of the drivers who had a tough weekend in Vegas and they reacted very, very, very well and I think it’s why we were so performant this weekend.”

When asked what Ferrari would be focusing on over the winter break, Vasseur reckoned it isn't just one aspect that needs attention. He said:

“Honestly, I don’t know because I think it would be a mistake to think that there is one thing.

“If you want to do a good job you have to be focused on every single pillar of the performance, on every single area. 

“On reliability, it’s true for every single part of the car, it means that we have to improve everywhere.

“But I don’t want to do the list because if I start to do the list I think I don’t want to finger point someone or a group but I think on every single area, on every single department of the company, we just have to do a better job.

“This is not a criticism; it’s just that it has to be the mindset of the team that we have to come each morning to try to do a better job than yesterday to try to improve what we are doing hundreds of seconds by hundreds of seconds, but this mindset is the DNA of our sport and if we don’t have it, we are dead. 

“That means that I will continue to push, I will continue to push all the employees first to be convinced that they are all a performance contributor at every single level and that on every single area we have to do a better job than 2024.”