Charles Leclerc claimed his third podium of the year for Ferrari in Spain, capitalising on the late Safety Car to overtake Max Verstappen.
The Monegasque was fairly competitive throughout the race, albeit a few tenths slower than McLaren and Red Bull.
Ferrari largely optimised their package in the triple-header, leaving very few points on the table.
Even after their disastrous qualifying in Imola, the Maranello squad managed to recover on Sunday and take good points.
Relative to McLaren, however, there is still a sizable deficit to overcome.
Fred Vasseur, the Scuderia’s team principal, remains optimistic about catching the Papaya squad.
Vasseur optimistic after Leclerc podium in Spain
For all the speculation about the Spanish GP technical directive, the pecking order was largely unchanged.
McLaren were still the team to beat, even if Verstappen managed to put them under pressure before the Safety Car.
The new flexi-wing rules did not cause massive changes for the midfield teams either.
Sauber were the biggest winners from last weekend’s action, but that was thanks to the updates brought to the C45 – rather than the new directive.
In this context, Ferrari leave the Barcelona circuit in a similar position to where they have been all season – at least relative to McLaren.
Both Championships are firmly in the Woking team’s control, despite suggestions their advantage could vanish in Spain.
Even without bringing big updates this year, McLaren’s fundamentals continue to put them in a strong position.
Still, Fred Vasseur believes Ferrari can be satisfied with their execution in recent events:
“It’s always good to finish on the podium,” Vasseur said in his post-race declarations.
“And this result, following the one in Monaco confirms we’re building momentum.
“We’ve now had three strong races in a row and have moved back up to second place in the Constructors’ championship, which is a positive step…
“Since Miami, we’ve shown consistent progress – apart from qualifying in Imola.
“McLaren is still ahead, but we’re closing the gap step by step. We need to keep improving, and stay in the fight.”
Ferrari will not abandon this year’s car
Vasseur’s comments about the need to “stay in the fight” are consistent with his general message this year.
Rather than switching focus to the 2026 regulations, the Frenchman wants Ferrari to continue improving their current package.
Engineers at the factory in Maranello still think there is potential in the SF-25 to unlock and exploit.
Because of this, more upgrades are scheduled for the coming weeks and months. These will include some relatively large revisions, such as changes to the SF-25’s suspension.
To some extent, these mechanical components will carry over onto next year’s car.
Ferrari are not investing in aerodynamic alterations, which will obviously have no impact in 2026.
Still, even if the Scuderia carries over some of their mechanical changes to next year, this process still involves committing resources to this season.
Compared to other teams, Ferrari will be slightly later in dedicating all of their manpower to the new regulations.
This does not necessarily mean they will be playing catch-up next year.
It is possible to develop a better aerodynamic concept having invested resources slightly later into concept work.
Still, Vasseur’s decision to continue working on the SF-25 means his team must deliver results later in the year.
Main photo: Ferrari media gallery
