Fred Vasseur admits he was ‘scared’ when Ferrari told him about a change to Lewis Hamilton’s car

Follow us on Google Discover

Ferrari might be second in the 2025 constructors’ championship at the summer break, but Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have not had the term the Scuderia hoped for.

The pride of Italy entered the 2025 F1 season believing that the teams’ title would be in play after finishing only 14 points behind McLaren atop last year’s standings. Yet Ferrari trail their rivals from Woking by an uncomfortable 299 points after the first 14 of this year’s 24 rounds.

While Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris of McLaren also lead the F1 drivers’ standings with 284 and 275 points, Ferrari stars Leclerc and Hamilton only rank fifth and sixth with 151 and 109. The Scuderia are also the only one of F1’s top four teams without a Grand Prix win this term.

McLaren have secured 11 Grand Prix wins, Red Bull boast two and Mercedes have taken one to date this year. The only high that Ferrari have enjoyed remains Hamilton’s F1 Sprint win in China. Ferrari have also registered just five Grand Prix podiums thanks exclusively to Leclerc.

Ferrari ‘scared’ Fred Vasseur by highlighting the task of introducing their rear suspension upgrade

Hamilton has not taken a Grand Prix podium in the first 14 rounds for the first time in his 19-year career. Part of the Scuderia’s issue came from Ferrari’s first-ever double disqualification in the Chinese Grand Prix when Hamilton was disqualified due to excessive wear to his floor.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

It took until the Belgian Grand Prix 11 rounds later for the Maranello outfit to produce a fix, as Ferrari debuted a rear suspension upgrade at Spa. But team principal Fred Vasseur admits he was “a bit scared” by the task of debuting Ferrari’s update at Spa as it was a Sprint event.

Vasseur has now told The Race: “I was a bit scared when I arrived in Spa because they said, ‘OK, on the Sprint weekend, you have to test five different compound ways there, and so it will be difficult to make adjustments’. But, in the end, it went pretty well.”

Lewis Hamilton’s Chinese Grand Prix disqualification derailed Ferrari’s 2025 F1 season

Ferrari technical director Loic Serra had to shift his focus away from designing the Scuderia’s car for F1’s 2026 regulations to lead the design of their unplanned rear suspension upgrade. They did not realise the issues with Ferrari’s earlier set-up until Hamilton’s DSQ in Shanghai.

READ MORE: Who is Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur? Everything you need to know

Hamilton lost his P6 finish in the Chinese GP due to excessive plank wear, as the three points on his floor that the FIA checks measured 8.6mm, 8.6mm and 8.5mm when each must be at least 9mm. Ferrari’s first rear suspension set-up also made the SF-25 unpredictable to drive.

It now remains to be seen if their update was a real upgrade, as questions persisted entering the summer break after Ferrari compromised Leclerc’s Hungarian Grand Prix to save his skid plank. The Monegasque only came fourth, after fighting for the win, to avoid excessive wear.