Ferrari has been the second best team in the 2024 season so far, but failed to live up to those expectations at last weekend’s Shanghai event.
Having had at least one driver on the podium in the first four races, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only qualified sixth and seventh respectively, six tenths behind Max Verstappen.
The duo managed to edge out Mercedes’ George Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to finish fourth and fifth, but still failed to challenge McLaren’s Lando Norris, who took second place convincingly.
Team principal Vasseur said his team “made too many mistakes” in trying to optimize its package for the tricky Shanghai circuit and its unusual tarmac surface, leading it to be late in qualifying.
“I think it’s really about putting everything together,” Vasseur said. “We didn’t have a clean weekend on our side, but collectively we made too many mistakes.
“In this group, if you don’t do a perfect job, you won’t be in front. We have a field of six or seven cars in a tenth in qualifying. This means that due to details you can go from being hero to that of hero zero.
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal and Managing Director, Scuderia Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Both Ferraris initially lost positions to Russell – and briefly to Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg – at the start as they struggled for grip, making their recovery more difficult than necessary.
A mid-race safety car further complicated matters for Sainz, as he had already made his only pit stop for hard tires, giving him a tire life disadvantage to the cars around him.
But Vasseur pointed out that both Ferraris struggled more with the hard compounds than the mediums they started the race with, which is an area for further study.
“I think if we lost anything it was more in the last stint. Carlos was a bit unlucky with the timing of his pit stop because he stopped three or four laps before the safety car “, said the Frenchman.
“He was a little afraid to do a very long relay with the last hard set and he was a little conservative at the beginning, but he managed this long relay very well.
“We performed a little less well on the hard than on the medium. We were in a good position at the end of the relay on the medium, but we lost ground on the hard.”
The delicate condition of the Shanghai surface, coupled with the limited practice time of the sprint format, may have tripped up Ferrari, but Vasseur was unwilling to apologize.
“It’s more about extracting the best from what we have, and we haven’t done the job in that area,” he admitted.
“It was very difficult to understand the tarmac, also because of the format. It can make a difference in the end because we are talking about a tenth, we are not talking about half a second.
“But that can’t be an excuse. It’s the same for everyone and some teams have done better than others. We need to understand if we can do a better job of preparing.”
Ferrari has been the second best team in the 2024 season so far, but failed to live up to those expectations at last weekend’s Shanghai event.
Having had at least one driver on the podium in the first four races, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz only qualified sixth and seventh respectively, six tenths behind Max Verstappen.
The duo managed to edge out Mercedes’ George Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to finish fourth and fifth, but still failed to challenge McLaren’s Lando Norris, who took second place convincingly.
Team principal Vasseur said his team “made too many mistakes” in trying to optimize its package for the tricky Shanghai circuit and its unusual tarmac surface, leading it to be late in qualifying.
“I think it’s really about putting everything together,” Vasseur said. “We didn’t have a clean weekend on our side, but collectively we made too many mistakes.
“In this group, if you don’t do a perfect job, you won’t be in front. We have a field of six or seven cars in a tenth in qualifying. This means that due to details you can go from being hero to that of hero zero.
Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal and Managing Director, Scuderia Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Both Ferraris initially lost positions to Russell – and briefly to Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg – at the start as they struggled for grip, making their recovery more difficult than necessary.
A mid-race safety car further complicated matters for Sainz, as he had already made his only pit stop for hard tires, giving him a tire life disadvantage to the cars around him.
But Vasseur pointed out that both Ferraris struggled more with the hard compounds than the mediums they started the race with, which is an area for further study.
“I think if we lost anything it was more in the last stint. Carlos was a bit unlucky with the timing of his pit stop because he stopped three or four laps before the safety car “, said the Frenchman.
“He was a little afraid to do a very long relay with the last hard set and he was a little conservative at the beginning, but he managed this long relay very well.
“We performed a little less well on the hard than on the medium. We were in a good position at the end of the relay on the medium, but we lost ground on the hard.”
The delicate condition of the Shanghai surface, coupled with the limited practice time of the sprint format, may have tripped up Ferrari, but Vasseur was unwilling to apologize.
“It’s more about extracting the best from what we have, and we haven’t done the job in that area,” he admitted.
“It was very difficult to understand the tarmac, also because of the format. It can make a difference in the end because we are talking about a tenth, we are not talking about half a second.
“But that can’t be an excuse. It’s the same for everyone and some teams have done better than others. We need to understand if we can do a better job of preparing.”