Fred Vasseur rejects 'bulls**t' excuse for sudden Ferrari qualifying flop

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has rejected the idea of the wind affecting his drivers in United States Grand Prix qualifying as "bulls**t."

Throughout practice in Austin, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton topped every session, with Hamilton topping an FP3 session for the first time in over two years, since the 2024 Italian GP. 

This made the Scuderia favourite for pole position in Texas, but both drivers did not carry over their practice pace into qualifying, with Leclerc taking fourth on the grid and Hamilton fifth, with 0.044s between them in the Monegasque's favour.

Leclerc was 0.232s slower than pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli, who had left the door open for others to overtake him after a mistake on his second run in Q3.

Nobody could capitalise, leaving both Ferraris also behind Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, as Vasseur demanded a better execution of qualifying to extract the result he felt was in the SF-26.

"There are mixed feelings for sure because I think the potential was there all over the weekend and we had good pace in all the free practice, and until the last corner, we are fighting for pole," Vasseur told Sky Sports F1.

"It is as it is, and it is all part of the game, but I think [the race] will be a different exercise, and it will be difficult with a lot of degradation, but for sure, there is a bit of frustration because we had very good potential until the last corner of Q3.

"We were in better shape. Q2 was a bit faster for everybody [than Q1], and we all struggled to improve in Q3; perhaps it was a bit of wind, but it is also a distraction for the drivers, but okay, it is the same for everybody. 

"We can't complain about the wind; this would be bulls**t, and we have to do a better job on the last lap, because we had the potential to be at least on the front row."

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'From hero to zero'

Vasseur also explained how a minor misjudgment was capable of turning a driver from a 'hero to zero' in the difficult conditions. 

"For a couple of hundredths, you can move from P2 to P6 or P7,  from hero to zero, and it's a gust of wind or one metre [earlier or later] on the breaking point," Vasseur continued.

"We have to stay calm when we are speaking about potential. It's a different story, but it's F1, and it's like this from now for a couple of races."