Vasseur admits Ferrari squandered stronger-than-Mercedes pace at Dutch Grand Prix

Ferrari left Zandvoort with less than it deserved from the Dutch Grand Prix, according to team principal Fred Vasseur, who believes the SF-24 was quicker than Mercedes across the weekend but was undermined by qualifying mistakes and imperfect race execution. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished third and fourth respectively, right behind race winner George Russell.

“I think the pace was strong, I think at least stronger than Mercedes,” Vasseur said after the race. “But it is like it is, that we have to now have a deep look on what we did and what we did wrong.”

The problems began on Saturday, when neither Ferrari driver could generate sufficient tyre temperature in Q3. Despite the team opting for an extra preparation lap compared to its main rivals, both Hamilton and Leclerc could only manage fifth and sixth on the grid. Hamilton was direct about the cause: “The tyres were the biggest culprit today, just really struggling to get the tyres to work.”

The race itself compounded the frustration. Leclerc made a strong getaway at the first start, but at the second restart he lost a position to Oscar Piastri, who overtook the Monegasque around the outside of Turn 1 on hard tyres despite Leclerc being on softs — an outcome Vasseur described as “unexpected.”

Ferrari then missed a further opportunity when Leclerc cleared Piastri but the team failed to react quickly enough to challenge Russell, and a slow pitstop for Leclerc further eroded any chance of a podium challenge.

“The execution was not that good,” Vasseur acknowledged. “We had a poor pitstop and then it was difficult. But the pace itself was decent, it’s not an issue at all.”

The sprint race on Friday offered a glimpse of Ferrari’s underlying speed. Leclerc qualified third for the sprint, just 0.055 seconds off Russell’s best time, though Hamilton ended up sixth, 0.624 seconds off pole.

Vasseur’s diagnosis is clear: Ferrari’s priority heading into the next round is not raw performance but the ability to extract it on a Saturday. Converting strong race pace into competitive grid positions remains the gap the Maranello outfit must close if it is to turn near-misses into victories.