This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed.
AIPROPX ReportYahoo Sports · 31m ago
Ferrari "can't leave more points on the table" with race execution
Motorsport photo
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has called on his squad to keep improving its race weekend execution as the margins between Formula 1's 2026 frontrunners continue to shrink.
Having focused a large part of 2025 on the new regulations, Ferrari has fielded a competitive car in the SF-26, which it has relentlessly upgraded to allow both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to win a grand prix, with Ferrari holding second in the constructors' title.
But over the last two grand prix weekends in Hungary and the Netherlands, Ferrari didn't manage to convert its car's raw pace into results, failing to make the podium despite having the potential to do so.
In Budapest, Ferrari looked quick in practice on a twisty circuit that should have played to its strengths, with Hamilton nearly missing out on pole. But a poor start, followed by a speeding penalty and sluggish pitstops, meant neither he nor team-mate Leclerc finished in the top three.
In the Netherlands the team felt it left performance on the table in qualifying when it fell out of the ideal operating window with its tyres, and there were further wasted opportunities in the race to clinch a podium on another circuit that played to Ferrari's strengths and disguised its power unit weakness.
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, team boss Vasseur says he is only too aware that Ferrari cannot afford to leave any opportunities on the table if it is to catch Mercedes or keep a resurgent McLaren at bay, although he pointed out the Scuderia had already made big strides in recent seasons.
"Honestly, I think we made a huge step in terms of execution over the last two or three years. In terms of strategy, pitstops, we are doing well," Vasseur said. "We missed opportunities mainly over the last two weekends, but I'm not sure that we missed more opportunities than McLaren or Mercedes from the beginning of the season.
"But if you want to be the champion, you can't leave points on the table. We have to score the maximum number of points that we can."
Ferrari has rolled out an impressive number of car upgrades in recent weeks and months, with more aero parts and an upgraded engine expected for this weekend's home race in Monza. But as the grid continues to converge in outright performance, Vasseur believes tidying up race weekend operations is only becoming more important.
"You have two races. You have the development race; race after race, you are bringing parts to improve the potential. But then you have also to be at the limit of your potential," he pointed out. "Sometimes you are doing well, sometimes not.
"It's challenging this season because everything is new. Regulations, energy, tyres are different compared to last year, so it means that we have many more new questions on the table than we had last year, and it's why we are all making more mistakes. But my job is also to minimise this number of mistakes. It doesn't matter what the others are doing, but we have to minimise this."
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
While teams and constructors have gotten a better handle on 2026's complicated power units and the byzantine regulations prescribing how to operate them, optimising energy deployment can still make a huge difference.
"The power unit is the key. From one lap to the other you can still have a swing of performance," the Frenchman cautioned. "It's much less than what we had in China or Australia, where we were sometimes losing four, five tenths. Now we are losing one or two. But that's four positions on the grid in Zandvoort. It means that we need to keep this [focus].
"I think it's more linked to the fact that it's a new area of regulations and a challenging year, but it's one of the focus areas of the team for sure."
Ferrari heads into the Italian Grand Prix weekend 87 points behind Mercedes, while Hamilton is level with George Russell as they trail championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 59 points.
Read Also:
How Fred Vasseur has been challenging Ferrari to take more risks
How Lewis Hamilton "shook the system" at Ferrari, but it couldn't fulfil all his wishes
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website .
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.
