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Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has come under scrutiny after the Scuderia ended their 2025 F1 campaign without a race win and finished fourth in the constructors’ standings. Former driver Riccardo Patrese has opined that the team needs strong technical leaders like McLaren’s Andrea Stella.
Ferrari entered 2025 with expectations of closing the gap at the front after narrowly missing out on the constructors’ title last year. Instead, the SF-25 struggled throughout the campaign. Charles Leclerc claimed all seven of Ferrari’s podium finishes, while Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult debut season, finishing the year without a podium for the first time in his career.
However, Patrese said that Ferrari’s struggles cannot be pinned solely on Fred Vasseur.
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“Is it all Vasseur’s fault? No,” he told Quotidiano Sportivo. “I’d prefer to avoid personalizations. The Frenchman is certainly paying for everything now. He’s been there since January 2023, so he’s had time to build. But in general, Fred has seemed slow to react to difficulties so far.”
Patrese explained that Ferrari’s issue lies in the absence of a clear technical reference point, something he believes is essential in modern Formula 1.
“In Formula One, as in any top company, it’s essential to create a close-knit working group. That’s the job of a team principal,” he added. “After that, Ferrari needs an important technical leader. Someone like (Ross Brawn). Andrea Stella became one with McLaren."
The comparison highlights McLaren’s transformation under Andrea Stella, who started his F1 journey at Ferrari as a performance engineer in 2000. He moved to McLaren in 2015 as Head of Race Operations and eventually became Team Principal in 2022. Alongside CEO Zak Brown, he has overseen Papaya winning consecutive constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025.
Patrese dismissed suggestions that Ferrari’s leadership issue could have been solved by signing Adrian Newey, insisting the focus should remain on internal structure rather than individual names.
“As for Newey, only he and the Maranello management know how the negotiations went,” he added. “But I insist: Ferrari needs a point of reference on a technological level.”
Fred Vasseur’s tenure at Ferrari has followed a steady progression. He took charge in 2023, and they were the only non-Red Bull team to win a race that year. Ferrari went on to lose the constructors’ title in 2024 by 14 points. In 2025, inconsistent performances saw them fall behind both Mercedes and Red Bull, ultimately finishing P4, their worst result since 2020.
Despite that, Ferrari confirmed a multi-year contract extension for Fred Vasseur in July 2025, ahead of the 2026 regulation changes.
Fred Vasseur explains Ferrari’s early shift in focus “to switch to 2026”
Ferrari’s 2025 campaign was shaped heavily by the team’s decision to redirect resources toward the 2026 regulations, which will introduce sweeping changes to car design and power units. Fred Vasseur admitted that the choice, made early in the season, had significant psychological consequences.
“McLaren was so dominating in the first four or five events that we realised it would be very difficult for 2025,” Vasseur explained (via F1). “It meant that we decided very early in the season. I think it was the end of April, to switch to 2026.”
While the team continued to introduce mechanical updates, aerodynamic development was largely frozen. Vasseur acknowledged the challenge of maintaining motivation under those circumstances.
“It was a tough call,” he said. “Perhaps I also underestimated the psychological side, because when you still have 20 races to go and you know that you won’t bring any aero development, it’s quite tough to manage.”
Ferrari’s season highlights were limited. Lewis Hamilton won the Sprint in China early in the year, but both Ferrari drivers were later disqualified from the Grand Prix. Leclerc went on to secure seven podiums and a pole position.
With F1 pre-season testing set to begin in a month, Ferrari’s focus now shifts entirely to whether its early sacrifice in 2025 will translate into a more competitive package under the new regulations.
