Fred Vasseur sends Ferrari 'other issues' warning as new F1 era looms

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has cautioned that the Italian team will undoubtedly face "other issues" in 2026 after a campaign dogged by the underperforming SF-25.

Heading into last year, expectations for the Scuderia were high, having narrowly lost to McLaren in the F1 constructors' battle.

However, its package failed to live up to anticipation, and the Maranello-based squad failed to register a victory all season.

The situation was not helped by ride height problems, which caused Lewis Hamilton to be disqualified for excessive plank wear at the Chinese Grand Prix and ended up plaguing the team throughout the year.

This, coupled with the decision to forgo aerodynamic development in April to switch focus to 2026, left the Prancing Horse limping to the finish line in Abu Dhabi, having fallen to fourth in the standings.

And although the season ahead is an entirely new proposition, with all-new chassis and power unit regulations, Vasseur is certain his team will encounter fresh issues.

"I think the philosophy of the car [in 2026] will be completely different," the Frenchman told media, including RacingNews365.

"Mainly because half of the car won't be the same. And the issue that we had all of last season won't be there, but we'll have other issues, for sure."

A new direction?

The contemporary ground-effect era Ferrari F1 cars were primarily designed by Enrico Cardile, who is now the chief technical officer at Aston Martin.

Whilst the Italian left the Scuderia in 2024, he was responsible for the technical direction of the SF-25.

So when it was put to Vasseur that the new car will be his "first", he playfully deflected, highlighting Loic Serra, who is his new chassis technical director.

"It's more the Loic Serra car," the 57-year-old joked. "I don't want to escape any responsibility, but if you speak about Cardile, you have to speak about Loic.

"No, Enrico left the team in June '24, and Loic joined in October '24. It means that the car was almost designed.

"It's why I was a bit upset when [the media] put the name of Loic under the bus at one stage of last season.

"I think it was a bit unfair, but, at the end of the day, next year's car is the first — not the first baby, he had a baby before — but the first product of Loic."