Hamilton said in Las Vegas that he was not looking forward to the 2026 F1 season, and Leclerc stated in Qatar he doubted Ferrari's chances of fighting for the top prizes in 2026, adding more complaints to what is already a long list.

Team prijncipal Frederic Vasseur then revealed that the choice to switch the team's focus onto the 2026 season, had a psychological impact on the team.

"We didn't start in a in the best way that with the double disqualification in China," he said. "This cost us tons of points compared to the direct competitors. And quite early in the season, McLaren was so dominating the first four or five events that we realized it will be very difficult for 2025. 

"And you know that you won't bring any aero development. It's quite tough to manage psychologically," he added.

The French team boss was also quizzed on the impact Hamilton has had on Ferrari so far, to which he replied that the seven-time world had been a part of Ferrari's positive reaction to the team's up-and-down campaign.

"The season was difficult and I think it's a mathematical constatation. It's not a feeling," he said. "But the most important is the reaction. The most important is the energy that you are putting to push the team again and again to try to understand what are the issues, to fix the issues, and it's details by details.

"I think it's the job of everybody. It's not the job of one driver or one engineer. It's the job of 1 ,500 people at the factory, from the two drivers, from all the engineers. Collectively, the reaction was good. Lewis is part of the reaction, for sure," he concluded.

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