Why Vasseur's steady hand is exactly what fervent Ferrari needs right now

Last Sunday Norway delivered an upset by knocking Brazil out of the FIFA World Cup, filling sports columns worldwide. But in Italy, even Neymar's anguish can't compete with a victory for Ferrari. "RECLERC" is how the trademark pink newspaper headed its cover story, with a regal crown on top of the R as King Charles recovered from a troubling slump to take his first victory since the 2024 US Grand Prix.

It's not just Leclerc who has rehabilitated himself. With both the Monegasque and team-mate Lewis Hamilton now on the board, Ferrari has won two out of the last three races. Thanks to vast improvements to the SF-26 in Spain, it appears well and truly back in the title hunt, taking a 20-point bite out of Mercedes' lead in Silverstone, which has now shrunk to a manageable 78. Mercedes may still have pound for pound the fastest car and power unit package in most conditions, but Ferrari is not far away and has encountered far fewer reliability issues with its new power units than the Silver Arrows.

With at least 13 grands prix left to run - 14 if F1 management gets its way and manages to salvage Bahrain - the 2026 season is poised to defy pre-season expectations and deliver a tight battle at the front of the field rather than one team running away with it. 

Italy has, of course, woken up to this possibility as well, and following some despair at Mercedes' early-season dominance the country's Ferrari fever is on the rise.

That fascinating fervour makes Ferrari so wonderfully unique in all of sports, managing to galvanise any entire country around a single entity that few other sports franchises can. It can also be massively distracting and disruptive. This is where a leader like Fred Vasseur can make a difference. The Frenchman joined Ferrari as team principal in January 2023, but it has arguably taken until this year and its drastic regulations changes for him to have really had enough time to stamp his mark on Maranello.

Some of that is the time it takes to turn around an oil tanker of a team, whether it's instilling his own culture and approach or capturing high-level talent. One of Vasseur's first big moves was to poach technical director Loic Serra from Mercedes in July 2023, but Serra only got his foot under his desk in 2025, with the 2026 car project the first one under his guidance. Another of Vasseur's key signings, seven-time world champion Hamilton, has also needed a year to click with his new surroundings and start making an impact.

Everything is starting to click at Ferrari in 2026

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

Vasseur has always played the long game, because in F1 that's the only game there is. But the tifosi and Italian press don't often work this way. Lose on Sunday, despair on Monday. The lowest point of his tenure came last summer, when Ferrari was unable to contend with McLaren and thus started turning off its 2025 development in April and focusing fully on 2026. Over a turbulent month, damaging rumours surfaced of Christian Horner or Ferrari sportscar boss Antonello Coletta being lined up to replace Vasseur, only for Ferrari to quell speculations by handing its team boss a new deal.

While irked by the rumours and the impact they had on his Maranello staff, Vasseur consistently warned against overreacting when things go wrong, instead focusing on the process to improve every single area of the team one step at a time, whether or not the previous race weekend went well. Whether that's trackside operations, race strategy, or instilling a more bold, less risk-averse mindset back in the factory.

And just like he didn't get overly frustrated in the tough times, Vasseur now won't get too excited by the good weekends either now the squad has managed to string a few wins together. So, when Italy is starting to be swept by red fever, Vasseur is now the one pumping the brakes on a first Ferrari title challenge since - arguably - 2022. A horror weekend in Austria gave him the perfect recent example that the team has to continue executing race by race.

"We have to start from scratch every single weekend. There is nothing magic" Fred Vasseur

"Championship fight is your words," he said in Silverstone when asked about the prospect. "But after Barcelona, I had the comment: 'Ah, Ferrari is back in the championship'. I said no. The week after, you told me: 'Ferrari is nowhere'. I said no. I will have exactly the same approach with everybody at home tomorrow morning. To say: 'Guys, we had a good weekend. Now let's be focused on Spa. It's not that we are champions. We are not nowhere. We are improving step by step.'

"I never try to draw a conclusion after one race, two races, a good result, a bad result. I'm just focused on doing more and doing better. And I think it's true for me. It's true for everybody at the factory. Then it's your job to speak about championship. But I never did it."

Ever jovial, Vasseur was bemused when another journalist still persisted with the same championship question anyway. But his answer to a subsequent question about Spa summed up Vasseur's approach to the rest of the campaign. "We have to start from scratch every single weekend. There is nothing magic. We can't imagine taking a step of five, six tenths in one weekend. It's just the addition of small gains everywhere that will make the difference."

Vasseur is not hyping up Ferrari's F1 2026 title chances

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

The 58-year-old is always quick to dismiss his own contribution to Ferrari's slow but steady transformation, saying he had "zero merit" to Hamilton's turnaround despite the obvious work he did to make Hamilton more comfortable.

But alongside Vasseur's push to change Ferrari's culture, improve its operations and play F1's political game well, his biggest contribution right now is that of a steady helmsman navigating the choppy waters in one of the most high-pressure jobs in sports.

Perhaps that's why the Frenchman was the best man for the job. An outsider who is well aware of the pressure and expectation of the Italian fans and media, but experienced and level-headed enough not to be swept away by any monster waves that crash against the deck.

Will Ferrari make it three wins in four at Spa?

Photo by: Erik Junius