Frédéric Vasseur: “Finishing behind McLaren affects me personally”

They only needed 14 points: 14 points to secure their first Constructors' World Championship title since 2008. Unfortunately, Ferrari was unable to make up the deficit against McLaren at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and failed in his quest for a 17th title. However, the Team gave it his all: despite the 100% McLaren front row – and handicapped by the engine penalty of Charles Leclerc, starting 19th – the Italian team signed a sublime double podium, nevertheless insufficient in the face of the imperial victory of Lando Norris.

Speaking to Canal+, Frédéric Vasseur gave his first immediate reaction to this defeat against the British team, at the end of an intense duel between the two teams. The French manager warmly congratulated McLaren on its world title and, despite the obvious disappointment of a lost title, shared a certain optimism for the 2025 season. The Scuderia boss is particularly encouraged by his team's progress in the second half of the season, a positive point before welcoming Lewis Hamilton in Maranello next season.

Frédéric Vasseur (Ferrari) after the Abu Dhabi GP : “First of all, congratulations to McLaren. They had a great season. They were consistent, always performing, they didn’t have any reliability issues. Personally, without saying that I’m happy, finishing behind McLaren also touches me. It’s the team I worked with when I started, and I’m happy for them. That being said, I’m a little disappointed for myself, because I think we did the job today and we had a very good season all year long. Finishing like that, 14 points behind, leaves a bit of a bitter taste. It’s also the best preparation for next year.”

“We are missing a little bit in the race and in qualifying, it is about a tenth depending on the races and the conditions. I think it is marginal. What we are missing is not necessarily performance, it is rather the holes we had during the season. We must try not to make mistakes like we did during 2-3 races. We lost 80 points on McLaren in three races, in June. It is sure that when you finish 14 points behind, it hurts a little bit.”

(On the 2025 car) "By definition, we change everything... so afterwards, we can have an evolution while keeping the philosophy on certain components, but we change everything because the fight is such that we cannot give up a gram on a part, or half an aerodynamic point. That's the project [to win next year]: we are in this state of mind. At the factory, where performance is made, we have done a huge amount of work over the last six months. Afterwards, that doesn't mean that we will be far ahead, I don't know what McLaren did. I am rather positive because the dynamic is good, compared to last year. We make fewer mistakes, we are more reliable, more consistent in performance and that is encouraging for next year."

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