Fred Vasseur refuses to surrender despite Miami's setbacks, invoking Max Verstappen’s legendary comeback as the blueprint for the Scuderia to overturn Mercedes' dominance and reclaim championship glory.
Ferrari has made it clear that the team is not ready to surrender its ambitions for the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship. The Italian outfit entered the season as one of the most credible potential challengers to Mercedes' anticipated dominance, with many analysts identifying the Scuderia as the most likely team to mount a sustained title fight against the Silver Arrows as the year progressed.
Following a difficult Miami Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur took the opportunity to speak with Gazzetta del Sport and address questions about the team's prospects of closing the gap to Mercedes in both championship standings. Drawing on a powerful historical precedent, the Frenchman made clear that he has no intention of giving up.
"Verstappen won the title last year after coming back from Monza — I still believe in it," Vasseur stated, invoking the Dutchman's stunning 2025 championship comeback as evidence that Formula 1's pendulum can swing at any moment.
Vasseur also gave a candid account of what went wrong in Miami: "It was a very tough Sunday. I think the weekend actually went quite well up until the race itself. On the first lap, Lewis lost part of his front wing, and the race was nearly over right there. As for Charles, we were fighting for third — you can see the positive side of that, too. He could have parked the car at Turn 4 after the spin, but these things are complicated."
"Honestly, we didn't have time to talk about the spin immediately after the race, but I think the car clipped a kerb slightly. He was trying to stay close to [Oscar] Piastri in the final lap. From the beginning of the weekend, tyre management and temperature have been the consistent theme for everyone."
"When you're in a clean position, the pace is right there. That was true for us, but also for everyone — with such wide variation in performance, it's very easy to overheat the tyres and lose control. The first stint went very well. Then the safety car came out, brought the field back together, and from that point energy management became the decisive variable".
"The race essentially had two distinct phases: the first, when we were running in open air with good pace; and the second, after the safety car, which reset everything and made managing the final stint far more demanding," Vasseur explained.
Why Has 2026 Been a Disappointment for Ferrari?
Ferrari is the most successful and popular team in Formula 1 history, and every season arrives with the expectation — from fans and media alike — that the Scuderia will be in contention for victories and championships. In recent years, however, those expectations have repeatedly gone unmet.
After the enormous disappointment of 2025, during which Lewis Hamilton's high-profile arrival failed to deliver the results so many had anticipated, 2026 was supposed to mark the dawn of a new era in Maranello. It was supposed to be the season Ferrari finally fought at the front in earnest.
Instead, Mercedes has dominated from the opening round, and the Scuderia finds itself chasing podiums rather than race wins. The gap to the top remains significant, and closing it will require both technical progress and a change in fortune that has so far proved elusive.