After confirming themselves as the second-fastest team to start 2024, Ferrari will be disappointed with their weekend in China. The SF-24 was not second-fastest and collapsed behind the McLaren after a Sprint Race that instead made the men from Woking themselves think, as revealed by Norris, that in the Sunday race, it would be tough against Leclerc and Sainz.
This time in Maranello, they didn’t optimize the work on the track, and indeed, between Saturday and Sunday, there was a step backwards that Frederic Vasseur didn’t even want to hide, speaking of a weekend where too many mistakes were made and from the start Ferrari she was in a bit of trouble.
VASSEUR MAKES NO EXCUSES: “EVERYONE IS IN THE SAME SITUATION, OTHERS HAVE DONE BETTER”
The Shanghai weekend was full of unknowns due to the absence from the calendar for five years, the holding of the first Sprint Race of the season, and then, having arrived on the track, also the surprise of asphalt treated with a layer of bitumen which altered the grip, complicating the teams’ work.
However, Fred Vasseur doesn’t want to hear excuses to justify Ferrari’s subpar weekend. “No one has tested on this track, and the situation was the same for us.
“It’s true that perhaps the asphalt issue hasn’t helped us, but it’s not an excuse. We made some mistakes in the preparation phase and others did better. It’s up to us to work to do better next time,” said the French engineer.
Still, before talking about a step backwards or anything else, Vasseur preaches calm. He recalls how, since the beginning of the season, it has always been a question of details.
“Max is sometimes faster. But in any case, there are six cars within half a tenth or a maximum of a tenth. It’s a matter of details, and you can go from hero to zero.”
Several variables, from set-up to circuit characteristics, can play a role. Vasseur repeats how it is the detail that makes the difference. “In Australia, we were half a tenth ahead of McLaren. Here, they were faster.”
The main problem, according to the Frenchman, was not in the race. Instead, he emphasises the team’s poor starting position, which was too far back to hope for anything better. “In the end, we started behind Norris and Perez, and so we finished the race,” said Vasseur. The Ferrari boss outlined that the team’s execution in Shanghai was poor.
“There were too many mistakes from everyone and we didn’t extract the maximum potential from the car. It’s not about updates but about exploiting the potential that is in the car, and we didn’t do that this weekend. ” This was the lucid and cold analysis by the former Renault and Alfa Romeo team boss. Still, after the race, he explained that Maranello is working to bring their first developments as soon as possible.
THE LITTLE DATA AVAILABLE PUT FERRARI IN CRISIS ON THE HARD, BUT THE PROBLEM WAS QUALIFYING
“Starting from behind affects the race because even if you are faster, if you don’t overtake immediately, you fall behind and wear the tyres more. If there is something that didn’t go well, it was qualifying,” explained Vasseur. Once again, qualifying is confirmed as the main issue for the Scuderia.
Something that then also has repercussions on Sunday, with the problem – currently chronic – of the tyres misfiring. Something that was seen even more on the Hard. “With the medium tyres, everything was under control, while with the Hard tyres, we lost ground.”
Vasseur did not hide the fact that the Sprint Race format certainly represented a problem due to the lack of testing available during the weekend. Still, he repeated that there was the possibility of doing better, but overall too many mistakes were made.
To further complicate the situation, there was also the Safety Car, which, especially for Carlos Sainz, did not have a happy timing.
“We stopped 3-4 laps before the Virtual Safety Car, which then became the Safety Car. Carlos, therefore, feared having to do a long stint on the Hard, but he did well.
“It was a little conservative at the start, but then he handled the rest of the stint well.” Regarding the strategy, the Team Principal clarified that the team was unsure if Leclerc should commit to a one or two-stop. As such, they were focusing on tyre management. The final Safety Car massively simplified things.
“In the end, it was a bit like a Sprint Race with the Hard tyres.”
