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Fred Vasseur has a habit of managing expectations carefully, and his message ahead of the Miami Grand Prix is no different. The four-week break caused by the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races gives every team time to develop. Vasseur is not pretending that Ferrari will be the only ones to use it.
A Clarification on What He Actually Meant
Vasseur made comments after qualifying in Japan suggesting that Miami would effectively mark the start of a new championship. Those words created more noise than he intended, and he addressed that directly afterwards. "Yesterday there were quite a few misunderstandings about my comment that a new championship begins in Miami. Everyone will bring updates to Miami and have had time to work on their software. That is why I said it is as if a new championship begins."
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The point he was making is about the unusually long development window, not a prediction that the competitive order will be reset. Four weeks is a significant gap in a Formula 1 calendar, and teams that are struggling will use every hour of it. Ferrari will too, but so will Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull, and everyone else.
Ferrari Still Has Problems to Solve
Vasseur was honest about where Ferrari currently stand. They have a podium finisher at every race so far this season, but it has always been third place. The gap to Mercedes has grown to 45 points in the constructors standings after just three rounds. That is a significant deficit with a long season ahead.
He was equally honest about the internal issues that have carried over from 2025. "We had performance fluctuations between sessions last year and those problems are still present. We have potential we need to extract and we need to work hard on that." The development target heading into Miami is not a single area. "We need to work on everything: aerodynamics, engine, tyres, setup. If we focus on just one aspect, we lose ground."
His final word on the subject was a realistic one. "I do not want any misunderstandings: everyone will improve in Miami. But we are working towards that too." Ferrari are not expecting a miracle. They are expecting a fight, and so is every other team on the grid.
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