Fred Vasseur has diminished claims that Ferrari could challenge for the Formula 1 World Championship following a successful weekend at Silverstone.
Charles Leclerc finally took home a win for the first time since Austin in 2024, with teammate Lewis Hamilton joining him on the podium in third.
However, the Scuderia’s success was not entirely on pace, though, as a wheel shield failure for Andrea Kimi Antonelli saw him fall down the field from running second, catching Leclerc on fresher tyres.
Mercedes has already faced a number of reliability issues in 2026. Antonelli failed to score in Barcelona with a power unit issue. Russell also had a race ended by a power unit problem in Canada.
On the other hand, Hamilton has scored points in every round of the season so far including a win in Barcelona. Leclerc has seen less of the point scoring positions, but his performance in Silverstone keeps him fourth in the Driver’s Standings.
Hamilton is just 32 points behind Antonelli and 7 behind the other Mercedes of George Russell.
Vasseur not getting carried away with Ferrari title talk
However, Vasseur maintains that the Scuderia are taking things race-by-race.
“The championship fight should be your words,” he said when asked by media, including Motorsport Week, if the team could continue their positive progression and challenge Mercedes for the titles.
“After Barcelona, we had the comments that ‘Ferrari is back in the championship’ and after [Austria], we had the comments that ‘Ferrari is nowhere.’
“We have exactly the same approach with everybody at home, that is to say: ‘Guys, we had this weekend. And now let’s focus on Spa.’
“We are not nowhere. We are improving step-by-step. But I never try to draw a conclusion after one race, two races, that it is a good result or a bad result.
“I am just focused on trying to do more, and being better. And I think it is true for me, it is true for everybody at the factory, and then it is your job to speak about the championship.”
For Leclerc, it was a seismic moment, as the Monegasque ended a 640-day streak to take a first victory in Britain, and his first since committing to a long-term contract with the Maranello-based squad, after a recent flat spell of form.
“After Monaco, the feeling wasn’t there. I crashed in Q3, then in the race we had an issue and that ended our race,” he said.
“In Barcelona, the feeling was good but I crashed again. It was very difficult mentally.
“Austria wasn’t so great but here I we managed to put everything together and I hope I can keep that momentum going forward.”
Ferrari may struggle to find its feet again in Belgium, as the notorious Spa-Francorchamps circuit could expose its power unit, still not fully up to scratch despite intervention via its ADUO eligibility.
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc details ‘mentally challenging’ 2026 after ending F1 win drought
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