{"id":379863,"date":"2025-08-28T08:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T08:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/379863\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T08:33:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T08:33:11","slug":"ferrari-must-keep-positive-momentum-in-zandvoort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/379863\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferrari must keep “positive momentum” in Zandvoort"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ferrari ended the first half of the season with a frustrating afternoon in Hungary, as Charles Leclerc<\/a> fell first place in the opening stages to fourth across the line.<\/p>\n

Despite claiming Pole Position, Leclerc could not match the McLaren\u2019s across a race distance.<\/p>\n

Even Russell finished ahead of the Monegasque, who was forced to lift and coast for much of the race.<\/p>\n

Ferrari were on the limit with their plank wear at the Hungaroring, opting for a risky set-up that (whilst effective in qualifying) was not sustainable on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Although the SF-25\u2019s decline was disappointing, Fred Vasseur is optimistic about the team\u2019s pace.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vasseur maintains positive outlook<\/p>\n

It was roughly one year ago that Ferrari claimed victory at the Italian GP, courtesy of their Monza upgrades<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following a difficult patch during the European leg of the season, Vasseur\u2019s team responded strongly in 2024.<\/p>\n

Twelve months later, the chance of a mid-season resurgence are relatively slim.<\/p>\n

Ferrari have already switched their focus to the 2026 regulations, dedicating all of their resources to that project.<\/p>\n

For an engine manufacturer like Ferrari, the difficulty of producing a new engine only elevates the challenge.<\/p>\n

This means no improvements will arrive to the SF-25<\/a>, presenting a clear limiting factor.<\/p>\n

Still, the Scuderia still want to end this year on a positive note.<\/p>\n

With McLaren well beyond reach, their objective is to claim second in the Championship.<\/p>\n

As Red Bull struggle and Mercedes battle their own inconsistencies, finishing runner-up is a realistic goal.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of this weekend\u2019s Dutch GP, team principal Fred Vasseur<\/a> was upbeat in his analysis:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re back on track after the summer break, which gave the team and the drivers a chance to recharge \u2013 ready to face a very busy final part of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Netherlands, we want to maintain the positive momentum built up over the past few races, where we made progress in terms of competitiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharles and Lewis are ready, and the team is fully focused, determined to put them in the best possible position to get some good results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis weekend, that means starting right from qualifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is particularly crucial at Zandvoort, given how difficult overtaking can be at this track.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ferrari focused on damage limitation<\/p>\n

Given that Ferrari haven\u2019t won an F1 Championship in almost two decades, finishing 2nd in this year\u2019s constructors standings would equal their best results in recent years.<\/p>\n

Of course, a team with the resources at Ferrari\u2019s disposal do not aim for second place.<\/p>\n

At the end of last year\u2019s campaign, the Maranello team were legitimate threats to McLaren.<\/p>\n

Sainz and Leclerc won two races each in 2024, narrowly missing out on the constructors title in the final race.<\/p>\n

During pre-season, the expectation was that Ferrari would fight for the Championship with McLaren.<\/p>\n

The Scuderia were generally seen as more likely than Red Bull to upset the supremacy of Andrea Stella\u2019s team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for these hopes to fade, even if Vasseur was adamant about the SF-25\u2019s potential for some time.<\/p>\n

With Piastri and Norris<\/a> in a clear title fight, the rest of the field must accept they are not protagonists.<\/p>\n

In the case of Ferrari, however, there might be opportunities to pick up the pieces of McLaren drop the ball before the end of the season.<\/p>\n

To some extent, winning a race of securing regular podiums would help ease some of Ferrari\u2019s frustrations in 2025.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, though, the Italian squad understand the pressure is on to deliver at the highest level in 2026.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Scuderia Ferrari media gallery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ferrari ended the first half of the season with a frustrating afternoon in Hungary, as Charles Leclerc fell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,132276,707,4200,7181,94848,93953,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-379863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-f1-2025-season","10":"tag-formula-1","11":"tag-formula1","12":"tag-fred-vasseur","13":"tag-scuderia-ferrari","14":"tag-sf-25","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115105471260946170","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}