Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur has outlined the specific areas where he believes the Scuderia must make progress during the second half of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign, especially as seven‑time champion Lewis Hamilton fights to remain in the title hunt. After a remarkably steady opening eleven races, Hamilton appears poised to chase a historic eighth drivers' championship, currently sitting 50 points behind Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who leads the standings. Although a 50‑point deficit is substantial, it is not insurmountable.
Antonelli’s Mercedes has generally exhibited a performance edge over Hamilton’s Ferrari, indicating that the Italian outfit will need to extract additional performance if the 41‑year‑old champion is to keep his challenge alive. Ferrari also remains in contention for the constructors' crown, with Mercedes holding a 72‑point advantage despite their early‑season dominance. Speaking after the final pre‑summer‑break round in Hungary, Vasseur reflected on the first half of the year: "The first half of the season unfolded in stages. Up to Spain, Mercedes were simply flying.
After Spain, when we returned, we managed to outscore Mercedes over the last four or five races." He noted that the Hungarian Grand Prix had been a turning point, with both Ferrari and Hamilton making a series of mistakes that ultimately left Hamilton in fifth place, even though his car possessed the speed to fight for a podium finish. When asked where the team needed to improve, Vasseur answered succinctly: "If I draw a conclusion from Hungary, I would say execution." He added that execution had actually been a relative strength for Ferrari early in the year, but that there were still clear gaps to close. "We know we have to improve on the engine side and we will do it. The inertia on the engine is much higher than on the chassis," he explained, highlighting the greater difficulty of extracting performance from the power unit compared with the car’s mechanical components.
Rival teams, notably McLaren, have suggested that Ferrari currently possesses the best chassis on the grid, but that its power unit lags behind the competition. This view was echoed by McLaren driver Lando Norris after the Hungarian Grand Prix, who praised Ferrari’s chassis but pointed out the relative weakness of the engine. Ferrari has already received an FIA‑approved upgrade to its power unit under the sport’s performance‑balancing regulations, but Vasseur cautioned that the extent of further gains remains uncertain. Despite acknowledging the need for engine development, Vasseur stressed that the team must also continue to evolve the chassis.
"The most important thing will be to keep the pace in development," he said. He contrasted Ferrari’s approach with that of McLaren, noting that while McLaren tends to deliver large, comprehensive packages, Ferrari prefers a steady stream of incremental parts each race. "McLaren did a good job for a while, but they don’t share exactly the same philosophy as us because they bring a big package. For sure each time they bring something, they are making a huge step.
We have a different approach, trying to bring parts every race." Vasseur emphasized the necessity of maintaining momentum over the remaining twelve races of the season. "We have to keep this momentum because there are still 12 races to go. It’s a lot.
We have room for improvement on the chassis everywhere, and we have to keep this pace," he concluded. Looking ahead, the Formula 1 calendar resumes after the summer hiatus with a sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, scheduled for August 21‑23.
All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, and fans can stream the coverage via NOW without a long‑term contract. The Dutch round will offer Ferrari a crucial opportunity to test new upgrades, both on the power unit and the chassis, and to gauge whether the team can close the performance gap to Mercedes and keep Hamilton’s title aspirations alive. The next half of the season promises intense development battles, strategic decisions, and the ever‑present quest for speed that defines the sport.