Ferrari have found a bit of bite, but McLaren still own the habit.
That was the thrust from Fred Vasseur after Andrea Stella talked up Ferrari’s late-season threat. The McLaren boss reckons the red cars will be in the fight after the break; Ferrari’s team principal isn’t dismissing it — he’s just pointing to the one thing Woking have nailed better than anyone: consistency.
On the scoreboard, it’s been a one-team march. McLaren have 11 wins from 14 and a 299-point cushion in the Constructors’ Championship. The Drivers’ title is a private duel in papaya, with Oscar Piastri nine clear of Lando Norris. Ferrari? Still winless. But the last two rounds offered more than crumbs.
Charles Leclerc looked lively at Spa, qualifying third and finishing on the podium in a wet‑dry shuffle behind the McLarens. A week later in Budapest, he stuck it on pole and controlled the early laps before what Ferrari suspected were ride‑height gremlins robbed him of late-race pace — and a realistic shot at finally breaking McLaren’s streak.
Stella, taking the long view, saw enough to issue a warning. Ferrari, he said, have been quietly quick in recent weeks — in the dry at Silverstone, again in Belgium, and decisively over one lap in Hungary. Leclerc didn’t luck into the lead; McLaren were pushing and couldn’t immediately reel him in. His conclusion: in the second half of 2025, Ferrari will be in the mix for wins, and McLaren will have to factor them into every weekend.
Vasseur, asked if he buys that, didn’t overreach. “It’s hard to predict from one week to the next,” he allowed, noting Ferrari’s pace reappeared at Spa and held in Hungary. The car’s working its tyres better, and when qualifying falls their way, they can take the fight to McLaren. The catch? McLaren’s baseline is rock solid in any condition. “They’re always there,” Vasseur admitted. Ferrari, by comparison, have let small inconsistencies creep into practice prep, qualifying progression, and race execution across compounds. If they want to win, he added, they’ve got to put together clean laps from FP1 through Q3 and carry that through every stint on Sunday.
So there’s the battleground heading into Zandvoort after the summer pause: Ferrari have sharpened the spear, but McLaren haven’t given them many openings. If Leclerc’s recent form holds and Ferrari tidy up the edges, the orange wall in the Netherlands might not be the only bright color on the podium.
Until Ferrari prove they can string it all together, though, the titles look McLaren-bound — bar the shouting.
