Ferrari Says 2025 Season Still Positive Despite Falling from Second Place
It’s a tough time to be wearing red in the Formula 1 paddock. For a team with the history and heart of Ferrari, watching the championship slip further away stings, and the recent race in Las Vegas was another bitter pill to swallow. With the team now sitting in a disappointing fourth place in the constructors’ standings, a full 53 points behind Mercedes, the word “disaster” is being thrown around. But is it really that bad?
Team boss Frederic Vasseur doesn’t think so. He’s trying to keep a level head, arguing that while the recent results have been painful, calling the entire 2025 season a “complete disaster” just isn’t accurate. It’s a classic case of a team principal trying to shield his crew from the storm, but you can’t help but feel the pressure mounting in Maranello.
A Season of What-Ifs for Ferrari
Let’s be honest, this season has been a rollercoaster for Ferrari, and not the fun kind. At the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished sixth and tenth, respectively. While McLaren’s double disqualification shuffled the points a bit, it actually helped Mercedes more than Ferrari. This came right after a double DNF in Brazil, public criticism from chairman John Elkann, and Hamilton’s shocking qualifying exit. It’s enough to make any fan’s head spin.
After the race in Vegas, Leclerc was clearly unhappy, saying the SF-25 was a car he “will not miss.” You can feel the raw emotion in that statement. It’s the voice of a driver who knows he has the talent to win but is being held back by his machinery. Vasseur, to his credit, acknowledges the frustration. “For sure we are not in the situation that we didn’t score points the last weekend,” he said, “but we were P2 in the championship two weeks ago.”
He has a point. Just a few weeks ago, Ferrari was ahead of both Mercedes and Red Bull. But the last two race weekends have been brutal, with the team scraping together just a handful of points. The drop to fourth place, especially being overtaken by what is essentially a one-car Red Bull team, has to be a particularly tough blow.
The Frustration of a Seven-Time Champion
Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time World Champion, isn’t used to fighting in the midfield. His move to Ferrari was meant to be a glorious final chapter, a chance to bring a title back to the most iconic name in racing. Instead, he’s found himself in what he’s called his “worst season ever.” After a difficult race where he fought from 19th to 8th, his disappointment was palpable. “It’s a terrible result.
There is nothing positive to take from today,” he admitted. When asked about the next race, he bleakly looked ahead, saying he was just ready for next season. Vasseur, again playing the diplomat, understands where his star driver is coming from. He noted that the last few races have been tough, but also pointed out that Hamilton showed great pace in Austin and Mexico.
The potential is there. It’s the execution that’s lacking. “I can understand the reaction from Lewis when just after the race,” Vasseur explained, “but he just has to calm down to discuss and to be focused on the next two.” It’s a coach trying to rally his star player, reminding him that the game isn’t over yet.
Communication Breakdowns and Strategic Misses
It’s not just the car that’s been a problem for Ferrari. The team’s operations have looked anything but slick. Hamilton’s Q1 exit in Vegas was a combination of a driver error and a communication breakdown with his engineer. A clearer, more urgent message from the pit wall might have saved the lap.
Then there was Leclerc’s race, where a slow pit stop allowed Oscar Piastri to undercut him, trapping him in a DRS train for the rest of the race. It was a strategic misstep that cost them dearly. Vasseur defended the decision, explaining they were unsure about tyre life.
“Probably if you had to redo the strategy now you can say, OK, perhaps if we stopped the lap before Piastri it would have been better,” he conceded. “But this is always very easy to do after the race.” While true, it’s these small margins that separate the good teams from the great ones.
Holding on to Hope
So, while “disaster” might be too strong a word, “sub-optimal” feels like an understatement. It’s been a season of missed opportunities for Ferrari, a year where a fickle car, questionable strategy, and moments of pure frustration consistently undid the promise of speed.
For the passionate Tifosi, and for the drivers giving it their all on the track, it’s a story of heartbreak. But in Formula 1, hope is always on the horizon. The question is, can Ferrari finally put all the pieces together and turn this ship around? The world is watching.
