The Ferrari boss acknowledges the limitations of the SF-26 on the straights and assures that the team will introduce updates shortly. Leclerc and Hamilton signed a discreet fourth and sixth place in Baku, far from expectations after a surprising qualifying.
Ferrari is going through a moment of uncertainty, the Italian team that had placed great hopes in the 2026 season, finds itself in a complicated situation after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and sixth respectively in Baku, results that although they reflect the maximum potential of the SF-26 at this circuit, leave a bitter taste in Maranello. The lack of recent development and the top speed deficit have been pointed out by Leclerc himself as the main causes of his frustration.
Fred Vasseur, team boss, has come out in response to the criticism and has promised that Ferrari will bring improvements soon: "I won't give you the date but soon. Right now it's like this, we all bring updates in different places, I think McLaren did something this weekend and Mercedes probably will next, with Malaysia and Petronas. We will do it as soon as possible" Vasseur declared.
The Frenchman acknowledged that the team is working against the clock to reverse the situation although he warned that changes do not always give immediate results: "Sometimes you make steps, but they don't always bear fruit because sometimes you have to fine-tune. Now I think everyone is switching to next year's program because even though it's continuity, we have some regulation changes and we have to anticipate" he added.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix left a bittersweet image for Ferrari, Leclerc, a specialist in Baku, surprised by qualifying second, a result that not even the team itself expected given the straight-line disadvantage they have dragged since the start of the season, however the race confirmed the fears. In the first laps the Monegasque was helpless against the push of his rivals and fell to fifth position, an error by Oscar Piastri allowed him to recover fourth place, but the fight for the podium was out of his reach.
The main limitation according to Vasseur, is top speed: "The biggest limitation is that when you're in this situation and you want to defend you enter a kind of negative spiral, maybe you try to run with less aerodynamic load than optimal because you need to defend and you lose time per lap. We had a similar case in Monza, there the pace was decent the qualifying position was decent but we lost a position per straight in the first laps" explained the Frenchman.
Vasseur also admitted that the advantage Ferrari had in the chassis has been reduced or has disappeared: "I think the advantage we had in the chassis is smaller or is no longer there" he noted. The team director trusts that the next races will be less demanding for the engine and allow Ferrari to recover competitiveness: "The next races are a bit less demanding than this one, let's try to come back and there is also a kind of convergence in the chassis, you can improve much faster than with the engine" he stated.
Vasseur's promise comes at a critical moment, Leclerc has expressed his frustration at the lack of development and the team needs urgent answers if it wants to keep its aspirations alive in the championship; the improvements that Ferrari introduces in the next races will be decisive in defining the direction of the season.
The Maranello fans hope that Vasseur's promise is fulfilled and that the SF-26 recovers
