Vasseur: Closing Ferrari's speed gap is a 'mega long' process

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has laid out the scale of the challenge his squad faces in closing the straight-line speed gap to Mercedes. The Italian team has struggled for top-end pace throughout the 2026 campaign, and Lewis Hamilton reiterated the concern at the Italian Grand Prix despite the team introducing a fresh engine upgrade.

Why it matters:

With Mercedes setting the benchmark in a tightly fought season, Ferrari's lack of top speed is not just a qualifying issue. It affects overtaking, race strategy and track position, and it cannot be solved with an overnight aero tweak.

The details:

• “The process of the engine is mega long,” Vasseur told media including RacingNews365. “The chassis, you can make an upgrade from one day to the other very quickly and come back into the pace.”
• Engine development is a different beast. Long lead times and the cost cap mean Ferrari has to produce its engines for the season before it can start developing a new batch.
• The FIA introduced the ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) programme to help struggling teams, but Vasseur is not counting on it: “We are not expecting to recover with ADUO 1 or ADUO 2. We are doing small steps.”
• Even small gains matter. “If you make a small step on the engine, keep in mind that behind us, it was hundredths of a second. In terms of position, even if you make a couple of horsepower, it's a good step on the grid.”

What's next:

Ferrari will have a new engine next year, and Vasseur says the target is to catch up as soon as possible. Until then, the team must extract the maximum from its current package and hope those small steps add up.