Formula 1 Season at Risk of Becoming a “Qualifying Championship

The current Formula 1 season is facing an alarming trend, according to Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur. With overtaking becoming increasingly scarce in the past two races, the 2025 campaign may unwittingly morph into a “qualifying championship.

Overtaking Scarcity Plagues Recent Races

Despite an action-packed Australian Grand Prix at the season’s outset, overtaking has been hard to come by in both the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix. This worrying trend is a stark contrast to the 2024 season, which saw 70 fewer overtakes despite two additional races.

The current regulations, entering their final year, have seen a convergence in car design, with teams finding loopholes around the rules initially intended to promote more overtaking. At Suzuka this weekend, all six drivers who qualified in the top positions finished the race in the same order.

Pole Position Holds the Key to Victory

Ferrari team principal Vasseur emphasized the importance of qualifying performance, stating that being close to the front-runners significantly increases the chances of overtaking. He explained, “The more you are close, the more the gap is small between cars.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who qualified on pole in Shanghai and Suzuka respectively, both attributed their victories to their superior qualifying performance. Norris noted, “Max drove a good race with no mistakes, and it ultimately came down to qualifying positions.” Piastri concurred, stating, “We got close for the overtake a few times, but track position around here is just so important.

Ferrari Struggles Amidst Top Teams

McLaren has been hailed as the car to beat this year, but Lando Norris and team-mate Piastri could not find a way past Max Verstappen in Japan. The pair lamented Verstappen’s pole lap as decisive for the race. Despite leading the championship, Norris acknowledged, “We could not find a way past the Dutchman for 53 laps.

Ferrari has had a challenging start to the season, with Lewis Hamilton’s Shanghai sprint race win being their only victory so far. Vasseur admitted that needs improvement in all areas and aims to make progress in the upcoming races. He stated, “We have to improve everywhere. And at least we did a step forward compared to last week.