“We need to understand”, “the potential”, “the execution”: the mantras of Ferrari's chases

Ferrari, the vocabulary of defeats

“Execution“: a word that has now become a catchphrase of Ferrari’s 2026 explanations on what went wrong. A term that covers a decidedly wide range of possibilities. It means that the driver, the pit wall, the pit stops in turn did not work perfectly to extract the maximum poten…
Ah, “the potential“. Another catchphrase from Vasseur’s early years in Maranello. This constant and chronic inability to extract all the potential repeated like a mantra by the French manager season after season. A theme on which an exasperated Charles Leclerc cut short after the Q2 elimination at Imola 2025: “We have to apologize. We can put the tires back front, but the car doesn’t go enough. The car’s potential isn’t there”.

Then execution in the end is the realization of the potential, hoping it exists. In short, we have to understand…
Ah, the “we have to understand” of Binotto’s memory, which led Maurizio Crozza to a memorable satirical imitation.
In short, every season of suffering and chasing has its catchphrase, well known to all Ferrari fans. A sort of glossary of defeat, many words often sprinkled with a grating of fog with indefinite contours that allows explaining things without essentially saying anything.

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But the engine is neither potential nor execution

Because after ADUO1 and ADUO2, there is no way on the engine front. It’s a bit better. But there is a clear, glaring deficit. Which is neither “potential” nor “execution“.
And it is the real elephant in the room of the 2026 season. How was it possible that in the year when the hybrid power unit counts the most, Ferrari produced one of the worst engines on the grid?
Frederic Vasseur, in an interview that went somewhat under the radar with the Corriere della Sera in July, spoke of a precise strategic choice: “We made precise choices on chassis and drivability of the car, pushing more in that direction than on the engine”.
A sensational own goal, not something random falling from the sky.
But yes, maybe it’s more comfortable to talk about execution.

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