Vasseur bites back against Wolff’s Ferrari F1 upgrade "cheating" claims
by Ed Hardy · AutosportVasseur responded after Wolff expressed his surprise at Ferrari being aggressive with its car upgrades in the 2026 F1 season
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur launched a fiery response to Toto Wolff’s surprise at Ferrari continuously bringing upgrades throughout the Formula 1 campaign - believing his Mercedes rival made claims of “cheating”.
The Scuderia has been aggressive with car updates during the first eight rounds of the 2026 season, as the second-placed team attempts to close the gap on runaway leader Mercedes.
It led to Wolff revealing after Austria last time out that “we’re a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do”.
The Silver Arrows boss subsequently hinted that Ferrari ‘need to be running out of cost cap money soon’ - $215million in 2026 - hoping that the team may eventually slow down with its updates.
But Vasseur has come out on the attack at this weekend’s British Grand Prix, stating Ferrari is being no more aggressive than its rivals as efficiency with upgrades will determine success in this new regulation cycle.
“I find it quite ironic coming from Toto and Mercedes,” said Vasseur at Silverstone. “When Red Bull is developing, or when Mercedes is developing, they are a genius - when we are developing, we are cheating.
“I think you have to calm down with this. We didn’t bring more parts than Red Bull or another one - I don’t know if it was a joke!”
When then asked to clarify his “cheating” comment and whether he thinks Wolff was making that exact claim, Vasseur responded: “If you think that we overshoot the cost cap, for me it’s going into this direction.”
But Vasseur was on the attack throughout the Friday press conference, showing signs of clear frustration whenever he was asked about Wolff’s comments from the Red Bull Ring.
On one instance, for example, the Frenchman was asked why he thinks Wolff singled out Ferrari, which is the only other team to have won a grand prix in 2026 via Lewis Hamilton at Barcelona.
Vasseur responded: “If you have to ask something to Toto, go to Toto and ask him why he spoke about me. Honestly, I have no clue.”
Vasseur and Wolff are known to be friends and have been for quite some time, but he delivered a sharp response when asked if they have since spoken.
“I think it was better to avoid to speak,” said Vasseur.
But the 58-year-old did subsequently provide a clear explanation as to why Ferrari has been aggressive with its upgrades, arguing it’s better to do so with two-thirds of the campaign still to play.
“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.
“But sometimes it’s difficult to find performance, sometimes you can have the feeling that we are bringing a big upgrade, but it is just the modification of some parts and nothing else.”
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