Suffering From Toto Wolff’s Problem, Frederic Vasseur Sets Lofty Goals For Second Half of the Season

Mercedes’ ex has become Ferrari’s next. If you thought this referred to Lewis Hamilton, think again. At the beginning of the ground-effect era in 2022, cars designed by the Toto Wolff-led Silver Arrows suffered extreme bouncing on the straights. In F1 jargon, it was called porpoising. Before Hamilton makes it to Italy in 2025, this problem from his current team’s past already has. It has already given Ferrari drivers a headache and Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has aimed to double down on reparations.

This problem originated from the Maranello outfit’s Spanish GP upgrade. On paper, they expected improved performance but came at the cost of driver discomfort. Vasseur was perplexed by such an issue which “cannot be reproduced in the wind tunnel.” Consequently, this problem continued, bringing increased tire degradation and slower lap times.

Though their Belgian GP results were much better with Charles Leclerc securing P3, this bouncing issue remains at the forefront. “Fixing the bouncing would be a step forward in performance,” Vasseur said at Spa, as quoted by FormulaPassion. “We are pushing like hell to bring new features, and we will do it as soon as possible. The problem is that bouncing is not controllable. It is almost impossible to simulate, also because it can appear or disappear from one session to another depending on the wind direction or other factors,” he further explained. “We are all at the limit on this front. You cannot replicate it in a wind tunnel,” he added, reiterating his words from the Hungarian GP.

The Frenchman also set a target for the Dutch GP, the first race after the summer break, as he claimed “We have metrics to imagine whether the phenomenon will improve or not, but in the end, we are guided by the performance gains we could obtain with a bit more aerodynamic load. Improving these tools is a good exercise. The goal will be the same for Zandvoort because I am convinced that the 3-4 races after these will be much better for us.”

The reparations for Zandvoort have to be substantial. Ferrari has already lost P2 in the constructors’ championship to McLaren. The stakes only continue to rise, with Mercedes leapfrogging them in on-track performance.

Trouble for Frederic Vasseur: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz lament “difficult” Belgian GP

After Charles Leclerc took an unexpected Pole position on Saturday, the stage was set for a Ferrari victory at Spa. It had been 5 years since their last victory, courtesy of the Monegasque in 2019. But he couldn’t convert his Pole into a victory, finishing P4. Though George Russell’s disqualification promoted Leclerc to P3, the SF24’s pace was dismal. Both Ferrari drivers cut a sad figure post-race.

“I cannot be too happy with today’s race,” said Leclerc, adding, “as we had expected to be on the same level as Mercedes.” Though teammate Carlos Sainz bettered his P7 from Saturday (P8 before Max Verstappen’s grid penalty) to P6, “It was a difficult race,” he said. “We decided to start on a different strategy from everyone around us. The start and the first stint were very good, but unfortunately, I think we didn’t have enough pace to make it work to our advantage.”

Frederic Vasseur’s efforts within one year of joining turned the team around in 2023. However, inconsistency still seems to be an inherent Ferrari issue. On the other side of the summer break lies a bigger challenge – defending P3 in the constructors’ from Mercedes. Because if they lose another position in the standings, they’ll lose prize money that could’ve been reinvested into their 2025 master plan, which involves getting the 8th championship for Lewis Hamilton.