Fred Vasseur responded to Toto Wolff comments at the FIA's team press conference at Silverstone on Friday, and he did not soften the dispute. Ferrari's team boss said the remarks about the team's upgrade pace in 2026 amounted to accusations that Ferrari was cheating.
Vasseur said he found the line of attack “quite ironic coming from Toto and Mercedes” and added: “But when Red Bull is developing or when Mercedes is developing, they are genius. When we are developing, we are cheating.” He also said: “I think you have to calm down with this.”
Silverstone answers Wolff
The issue was not just the speed of Ferrari's development. Vasseur tied the criticism to F1's cost cap, saying: “If you think that we overshoot the cost cap, for me, it's going into this direction.”
He also pushed back on the idea that Ferrari had pushed harder than its rivals. “We didn't bring more parts than Red Bull or another one. I don't know if it was a joke,” he said, before adding that if anyone wanted to ask Toto Wolff something, they should go to Toto.
Ferrari's 2026 development
Ferrari's recent pace of upgrades fed the argument. After the last race in Austria, the team introduced its first engine performance upgrade one race after a major aerodynamic overhaul, and Wolff described Ferrari as a team that “seems to be limitless in that way.”
Vasseur said Ferrari is trying to load performance early rather than chase it late. “I think the more performance you can bring at the beginning, that we are all in the same boat, that if we can bring something at the beginning, we do it,” he said. “It's better to have a couple of tenths for five races than just a couple of tenths for the last two.”
FIA upgrade declarations
Since 2022, teams have had to declare any changes in the FIA's declared upgrades document released on the Friday of every grand prix weekend. That structure puts each team's development path on public view, which is why Ferrari's 2026 pace and the cost-cap question landed so sharply in Silverstone.
Vasseur also drew a line under direct contact with Mercedes' boss, saying: “I think it was better to avoid to speak.” Ferrari now has the burden of proving its upgrade rhythm stays inside the rules while the criticism stays public, and the next exchange will say more than the upgrades themselves.
