Vasseur: We know that we are capable of competing with Mercedes.

      Ferrari, by common opinion, remains the second fastest team in the championship, second only to Mercedes, but that’s when talking about race pace. In qualifying at the Japanese track, Oscar Piastri managed to outpace Charles Leclerc, the best of the Scuderia drivers, while Lewis Hamilton only showed the 6th fastest time, losing to Lando Norris by more than one and a half tenths.

      We have already provided comments from Hamilton and Leclerc, but here’s how Frederic Vasseur, the head of the Italian team, assesses the qualifying results:

      “We are still going through a learning process, trying to develop optimal approaches to qualifying and understand how to act correctly to gradually build pace from the first session to the final, while avoiding excessive aggression.

      If we look at today’s results, it becomes clear that it’s not just about controlling energy consumption or pure speed – we need to learn how to fully unlock the potential of this car.

      However, points are awarded on Sundays, and this evening we will focus on preparing for the Grand Prix. I hope we will develop the right tactics and try to think through everything related to the start in detail. Then we’ll see what we can achieve, as our car is capable of good race pace.”

      Vasseur also spoke in defense of Lewis Hamilton, reminding that the new power units require a special driving style: “I absolutely do not believe that Lewis has lost his previous speed in qualifying. The peculiarity of the 2026 regulations is that the driver must rely on the energy of the hybrid system and not press the accelerator pedal too early.

      This can sometimes contradict his intuition, and our task is to understand why we were faster in the second part of qualifying than in the final. At times we were very close to Mercedes, but we need to figure out how to maintain that level throughout the entire lap.

      We are always aiming for victory, although the starting procedure often turns out to be unpredictable and chaotic. But we know that we are capable of fighting with Mercedes, and we have done so in previous races. The pace over long series of laps that we demonstrated in yesterday’s practice is encouraging, so anything can happen tomorrow.

      It is clear that we lack speed compared to the leaders, and we need to improve, as we intend not just to reach the podium, but to stand on its highest step. One could say that starting from the Miami Grand Prix, a new championship begins, so it is very important to earn as many points as possible right now to prevent our competitors from pulling too far ahead.”