Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has downplayed the Italian Formula 1 team’s qualifying deficit, arguing it’s “not a drama”.
The Scuderia has struggled over one-lap compared to its closest rivals so far in 2025.
Across the recent triple-header, Charles Leclerc has led Ferrari’s qualifying efforts with fourth, third and fourth.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, qualified eighth, ninth and seventh respectively.
Leclerc’s efforts saw him miss out on pole by between three and four tenths at each round of the recent triple-header and the Monegasque, after clinching his first podium of the season last time out in Saudi Arabia, highlighted qualifying as a key area that requires improvement.
“If we start further up, we’ll have our chances,” Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week in Jeddah.
“If not, we’re all too close in the race to make a difference. We really need to focus and put everything together in qualifying.”
Vasseur highlights F1’s tight margins
Ahead of Leclerc’s podium in Saudi, Vasseur sought to temper worries over Ferrari’s qualifying form, highlighting how tight the margins in F1 are over a single lap.
“Honestly, I don’t have the feeling that we’ve extracted the best from the car so far, or perhaps on some occasions, some sessions,” he said.
“But I’d say it’s true for us and for the others. Even McLaren, with the step they have compared to the rest of the grid, sometimes you have one of their cars that is struggling a bit more [in qualifying]. It is what it is.
“A couple of years ago, you could go to Q1 with a set of Mediums, do one lap, and you were in Q2. Today, even the top teams have to put sometimes two sets of Softs.
“Again, the field is very, very tight, and each time you make a mistake, you can lose five or six positions.
“Then the conclusion from outside is that it’s a drama. We’re more focused on pure performance, and five hundredths is not a drama.
“That means we need to stay calm in the analysis if we want to improve.
“I think it was one of the skills of the team last year to be able to capitalise hundredths of a second at a time. I hope we’ll follow the same path this year.”
Ferrari needs ‘consistency’ to challenge for the F1 title
Vasseur’s comments on qualifying came amid questioning whether Ferrari has the necessary ingredients to challenge for this year’s F1 title.
He initially responded that the “Ingredients are all there, but now it’s like cooking, and you have to put the ingredients together at the right stage.”
Post-race in Saudi Arabia, Vasseur’s comments tied into his pre-race thoughts, as he highlighted the key area Ferrari needs to improve in.
“I think we can build up the rest of the season perhaps on this weekend but, for sure, we have to be more consistent,” he said.
And whilst Vasseur had said not to dramatise Ferrari’s qualifying form, he’s not shying away from the fact it needs improving within the tight margins of F1.
“We missed more than P3 in quali yesterday and when you start P4 then you have dirty air, and it is more difficult… It’s good but as I always see also the negative side of this, we have to improve the quali as that starting from a better position could be much better,” Vasseur continued.
Consistency is also key to improving Hamilton’s form, which has dipped massively since his China Sprint success.
“We have to be more consistent from Friday morning, to the laps in quali to start in a better position, because the potential is there for sure. It is the consistency for us,” the Ferrari Team Principal concluded.
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