Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur believes the Italian outfit has been punished for being smarter than everyone else after Formula 1’s recent regulation tweaks wiped away part of the team’s hard-earned advantage off the starting grid.
In the run-up to the start of the sport’s new era, Ferrari spent months solving a problem much of the paddock was still desperately trying to understand.
While rival teams wrestled with sluggish launches and frighteningly slow acceleration after releasing the clutch, Ferrari engineered its way around the issue – thanks in part to an aggressive smaller turbo concept that transformed the starts of both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc into rocket launches off the grid.
The reward for that innovation? A rule change. Albeit one based on safety considerations.
Formula 1 introduced a new “low power start detection” system at the Miami Grand Prix, designed to identify cars accelerating abnormally slowly after launch in the name of safety. Officially, it was about avoiding dangerous situations at the start of races.
Unofficially, Ferrari appears to feel like it solved the exam paper too well and got everyone’s grading curve rewritten.
Ferrari’s advantage suddenly becomes everyone’s problem
Beneath the carefully measured diplomacy, Vasseur’s frustration was impossible to miss last time out in Miami.
“The trade-off is do we want to make one tenth of a second [in lap time] or do we want to lose five positions at the start,” Vasseur told The Race. “If you ask the engineers they say, okay, let’s have a good start.
“Imagine without the blue light, some cars would be still on the grid in China. You can put on the table the safety grounds, and it's the right of the FIA and I have just to accept. But at the end, I think it's also a bit unfair on us.”
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur with the FIA's Nikolas Tombazis.
That last sentence cuts directly to the heart of Ferrari’s grievance.
The Italian team had already raised the issue with the FIA long before the 2026 regulations were set in stone. At the time, Ferrari was essentially told to stop complaining and build a better car.
Which, awkwardly for everyone else, is exactly what Ferrari did.
‘You have to design the car for the regulations’
Vasseur revealed that Ferrari repeatedly discussed the problem with the FIA across multiple forums throughout the past year.
“I went to the FIA one year ago, and we spoke about this. We spoke about this in SAC [Sporting Advisory Committee], we spoke about this in the PUAC [Power Unit Advisory Committee].
“And I really appreciated the answer from the FIA [that] you have to design the car for the regulations, not the regulations for your car. I think this is a very good approach.”
©Ferrari
There is almost theatrical irony in what followed next.
Ferrari embraced that philosophy, developed a superior launch package, and suddenly half the grid began waving safety concerns like emergency flares.
“So then to have half of the grid, 40% of the grid complaining, that it's mega dangerous and so on. Politically [it] was well played but not very fair.”
In other words: Ferrari believes its rivals lost the engineering battle and won the lobbying war instead.
Ferrari forced to swallow the decision
Publicly, Ferrari accepts the FIA’s authority to act on safety concerns. Privately, the irritation still simmers.
“It was a decision based on safety grounds. It's up to them. Even if everybody is against, they can decide,” Vasseur said.
“It was a bit harsh for us. I understand what they did for safety grounds, but the other option would have been to ask them [the other cars] to start from the pitlane if they think it was not safe.
“For us it's also a choice that we made. We developed an engine with a criteria and somehow they changed the rule at the last minute.”
That final line is the one Ferrari will keep coming back to.
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