Ferrari in contention for both titles? Fred Vasseur plays it safe

For three months there has been no Grand Prix of Formula 1, and as with every off-season, all fans and observers are looking to see who will have progressed or regressed during the winter. Especially since 2025 is the last year of the current regulations, where all teams are supposed to get closer before the new technical regulations of 2026.

But this overall rapprochement makes the hierarchy even more illegible, as was already the case in 2024, when four teams won races and dominated weekends in turn. So, with the Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2025 season, Frédéric Vasseur is out of the question to play the prediction game.

"I think we all said the same thing this morning, you want to draw conclusions after Free Practice 1." regretted the boss of Gestione Sportiva of Ferrari after the first driving session of the day. “When we were in Melbourne last year, after two races, you were asking when Red Bull would be champion, and they weren't at the end. I think we have to build our pace, build our weekend. There's still a long way to qualifying and a long way to Sunday's race. Let's stay calm. I'm sure that applies to everyone, but it's way too early to draw any conclusions about who will be champion or who will win on Sunday. We've been doing this job for years, and we always get asked the same questions after FP1 of the first race."

Hamilton media frenzy calms down, Ferrari gets back to work

The Scuderia boss will however be able to rejoice in the symbolic best time of Charles Leclerc during the second session of the day. The Monegasque beat the two McLaren, despite a car understeer which caused some difficulties for his teammate Lewis HamiltonThe Briton is finally back on track after weeks of comments on his acclimatization and his first steps at Maranello.

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"We had two months of marketing," Vasseur jokes. “It was a huge wave at the beginning. The most important thing is to be able to turn the page and get back to business as usual. There’s still a long way to go. We have something like 150 sessions over the year, so this is just the beginning of the story. We just have to focus on it, forget the world around us and work as a team. But honestly, when [Hamilton] is in the briefing room, he’s fully focused on the objective, he knows his job perfectly and he has to build relationships with the team. It’s not a long process, but it’s a process we have to follow. We’re on that path. We know we still have a lot to do, but honestly, we’ve taken a good step forward from last year and I have a good feeling.”

McLaren – Ferrari: Nobody wants the favorite's sign

Frédéric Vasseur's good feeling will have to be confirmed on Saturday in qualifying, then on Sunday in the race on a track where Ferrari has won twice in the last three editions. Charles Leclerc won in 2022 after a long solo run, then he finished 2nd in 2024 behind his teammate Carlos Sainz, brilliant just two weeks after an appendectomy. Their successes have in common: each time Max Verstappen had retired. But this season, the Dutchman may well finish the race, he does not seem to be the main threat for the Italians, who must have their eyes fixed on the garage of McLaren, as the reigning world champions seem to be the best equipped.

“A relatively smooth session today, with no major issues.” comments Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal. “It allowed us to run our program and observe how the MCL39 behaves here in Australia on a very different track to Bahrain, where we conducted winter testing. I think we found that the car is responding as expected, which is good news. From what we saw today, we still have some work to do in terms of optimization, but overall it's positive.”

Despite his team's apparent confidence, the Italian assures that "these first sessions have confirmed that the field is, if possible, even closer than in the past." On Saturday, when the order of the first starting grid of the season is determined, it will no longer be time to play poker for Andrea Stella or Frédéric Vasseur. Each will have to lay their cards on the table and show – finally – their true performance.

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