Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has divulged that he viewed Charles Leclerc’s claim that the team is entering a “now or never” period in Formula 1 as a “positive” comment.
The Italian marque experienced a disastrous campaign in 2025 as it wound up outside the top three in the Constructors’ Championship and without a single race win.
Leclerc continued to be a shining light despite Ferrari’s woes, though, as he produced all seven podiums that were achieved in the squad’s recalcitrant SF-25 machine.
But while he’s insisted that his trust in the team hasn’t wavered, Leclerc indicated that next season will be decisive when it comes to weighing up his future prospects.
With all-new regulations wiping the slate clean, the Monegasque has claimed that it is imperative that Ferrari begin 2026 at the sharp end with a competitive package.
And although that would appear to have heightened the pressure on the Maranello-based squad, Vasseur has expressed that he welcomed Leclerc’s honest appraisal.
“Honestly, I think Charles, if you have a look last year, for sure when you are going to the pen and you are asking him after the session, ‘Are you happy with the session when it’s P2?’ or ‘Are you happy when it’s P6?’ It’s not the same Charles, for sure,” Vasseur began to media including Motorsport Week post-race in Abu Dhabi.
“But if you ask him the Thursday after, ‘What do you want to do with the team?’ I think the approach is always the same. It’s always constructive to try to do better.
“Even if I’m P1, I have exactly the same approach with the team on the Monday morning when we are doing the debrief to know and to understand where we can do better. And this doesn’t matter if you are P1 or P10. I think the debrief today at Alpine, at Williams, at Red Bull or with us, it’s the same. It’s that we are just trying to do a better job.
“And on every single pillar of the performance, on the engine, on the gearbox, on the aero, on the set-up, on the simulator, this is the DNA of what we are doing.
“But all of us, it’s not that just one team is waking up in the morning, ‘Ah, we are not doing a good job, we have to push’.
“Trust me, I think Max [Verstappen] is pushing the team at the limit, Lando [Norris] is pushing the team at the limit. And honestly, it’s also what we are expecting. It’s part of their job.
“Charles and Lewis [Hamilton], if they were very happy with the car and everything, I would be desperate. But this is more positive than something else.”
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