Sunday in Barcelona was a bitter day for Ferrari, concluding a weekend of ups and downs. The performances shown by the SF-24 in Spain fell short of expectations. However, team principal Frédéric Vasseur made clear post-race that he was not concerned. The Frenchman does not believe Ferrari’s deficit to Red Bull and McLaren in Spain is representative. From now on, fine margins will make the difference. Moreover, the tensions between Sainz and Leclerc must be addressed.
Vasseur highlights the importance of improving in qualifying
Ferrari wanted to bounce back after a disappointing weekend in Canada. However, there were several reasons for concern at Ferrari in Barcelona.
With that said, Fred Vasseur is not worried. He explains that Ferrari have shown they are capable of recovering from tough weekends.
“In Shanghai, there were 4 teams within 3 tenths, and in the last races, 4 teams took pole. It’s something that changes based on the track, temperatures and other things. A lot depends on the Qualifying, especially in races like these, where it is difficult to overtake.
“I’m sure if we had started P3-P4 we would have been in front. If I had to point to one area where I could improve, I would say Saturday.”
The Ferrari team principal highlights qualifying as a key area to improve. Beyond this, with such a close field, Vasseur believes conclusions cannot be made.
“We were within hundredths of Mercedes in Qualifying while they were 40 seconds behind us in Monaco, so we shouldn’t draw hasty conclusions.”
Vasseur on the Leclerc-Sainz duel: “Let’s let them clarify each other”
But what stopped Ferrari from keeping up with McLaren and Red Bull? Vasseur believes a combination of factors played a role.
“The most important thing here is to use the tyres well. You have to manage the tyre throughout the lap, on different corners, and we probably did something wrong on Saturday.
“We didn’t lose something in every corner, but only in some corners we lost 1-2 tenths, and then the rest of the lap was at Lando’s level.”
Therefore, the Ferrari boss has no major concerns about performance. On the strategic front, he said the following:
“Carlos, George and someone else stopped a little early to cover each other,” Vasseur explained the team’s first stop:
“It was impossible to give Carlos the softs. It would have been better, but it was too early. When you decide to cover Russell, you pretty much decide on the tyre. Before the race, it could be said that the Hard was better than the Medium, but as we saw during the race, this was not the case for everyone.”
Also taking centre stage post-race in Barcelona was the back-and-forth between Leclerc and Sainz after the close encounter in the first laps.
A duel which, from Vasseur’s point of view, did not prove to be detrimental to Ferrari’s race:
“We can find 10 moments where we lost some time in the race. Carlos let him pass quickly then at the end. We do not draw conclusions from the comments of the drivers as they exit the cars. Let them clarify among themselves.”
Vasseur on updates: “I don’t think McLaren developments are better than ours”
Ferrari arrived in Barcelona with an important package of developments. There were no issues on this front, with the updates working as expected. Speaking on the progress at McLaren, Vasseur does not believe the Woking-based team is progressing more quickly.
“In Great Britain last year, McLaren finished 25 seconds ahead of us. So I don’t think their development is that much better than ours.”
He then reiterated that in the current scenario, there is no clear favourite but that the factors of each race weekend will be able to determine the final result
“You could say there was someone better when he was 6 tenths better, but that’s no longer the case. Now, there will be changes because it also depends on the setup and how you have optimized it.
“Sometimes, you will find a driver who is slower in the first stint and then faster later on, but I think we are all very close.”
In the current F1 scenario, setup development plays an important role in the work of the reserve drivers on the simulator. They are often busy during race weekends working on the data correlation front with the track.
From this point of view, Vasseur finally suggested that they could regulate more kilometres on the track to benefit both the driver and the team.
“It’s something that could be done with young drivers to give them kilometers, gain experience and also be able to have a different feeling and improve compared to the simulator.
“I therefore think that if we were to regulate them, we should divide those dedicated to young drivers and those dedicated to pilots.”
