Fred Vasseur: “The season isn’t over, it’s just one qualifying and we’re not seven-tenths behind McLaren”. The comments of Fred Vasseur: at the end of a disappointing Saturday for Ferrari in Melbourne.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on the fourth row
McLaren secured a one-two in the Australian GP qualifying session, a result that is not entirely surprising but still impressive due to the gap they inflicted on the competition, particularly with an unstoppable third sector in the second run by both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Ferrari, on the other hand, not only missed out on the second row but could not do better than the fourth, with Charles Leclerc in seventh and Lewis Hamilton in eighth. The Monegasque started Q3 well on his first run but made a costly mistake on his second attempt, allowing Yuki Tsunoda and Alexander Albon to slip ahead of him, along with the expected Max Verstappen and George Russell, who secured the second row.

The verdict on Ferrari is harsh—almost seven-tenths off the pace. However, in Charles Leclerc’s case, the gap was inflated by his inability to complete a second lap after his mistake. Team principal Frédéric Vasseur, speaking to Sky Sport F1, emphasized that this disappointing qualifying session should not define the 2025 Formula 1 season, as no points have been awarded yet, with the race still to come.

“In Q1 and Q2, we were close to McLaren. Our times weren’t spectacular, but we were in the fight. Then we lost pace in Q3, and that’s a shame,” the French manager said. “But the season isn’t over, it’s just one qualifying session. There aren’t seven-tenths between us and McLaren—it’s more like one to three-tenths, as it has been in every session except Q3, where we missed something and didn’t complete the final lap. The picture is too harsh on us, even though it’s true that the gap to McLaren and Max Verstappen opened up in the third sector.” – Fred Vasseur pointed out at the end of the qualifying session in Melbourne.

“Do I hope for rain tomorrow? When you start seventh and eighth, you hope for a chaotic race, and rain could help. But I’m confident we can recover even in dry conditions. In Friday’s long runs, we were competitive.” – Fred Vasseur concluded.