Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is focused on their own car development, instead of worrying about McLaren's recent improvements.
After Lando Norris won the 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, it looked like McLaren had made significant improvements to their car's race pace and reliability. The team that should be immediately concerned about this is Ferrari, who are ahead of McLaren for 2nd place in the Teams' Standings.
But Ferrari might be too focused on their own performance right now. Fred Vasseur, the Scuderia's team principal, said that he's not getting pulled into these conversations just yet. He said that the team needs to focus on itself and try to improve the car's performance every weekend.
The dominant Hungarian weekend that never happened
After topping Free Practice 1 and 2 in Budapest, all signs pointed towards Ferrari dominance that weekend. But McLaren stole the show when it mattered most, with Norris sweeping through qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
To add more insult to injury, both Ferrari drivers failed to land in the podium places. Charles Leclerc finished in P4, with Lewis Hamilton trailing behind at P5.
Moreover, it was one of the very few times this season that McLaren led in race pace. The other time was in Miami back in May, when Norris and Oscar Piastri finished 2-3 in the Grand Prix. But McLaren would only have one more podium finish since then, until Norris won in Budapest.
During that weekend, McLaren brought over a new floor, which helped their drivers during braking and corner entry.
But Ferrari also has tricks up its sleeve for the upcoming races. This is probably why they aren't too concerned about their rivals just yet.
Ferrari to bring out post-summer upgrades
With Red Bull now setting their sights on 2027, the other three frontrunners are in a race to extract more performance from their cars.
Ferrari is one of the three aforementioned frontrunners, as it will also deliver a floor upgrade for the upcoming Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort. It could be a direct evolution of the floor concept that worked well for them in Barcelona, when Hamilton won his first race as a Ferrari driver.
With Zandvoort putting a premium on sustained aerodynamic load and stability, this floor upgrade could come in handy for the Prancing Horse. They still have an 87-point lead over McLaren in the standings, but they're also chasing Mercedes for the top spot.
The Scuderia need every point they can get if they want to climb to the top of the ladder.
