Ferrari team principal, Frederic Vasseur, delves into the Formula 1 team’s challenges in understanding the Pirelli tyres, as they aim to reverse their fortunes following a very poor start to the season.
Hopes of a championship contention in 2023 have been shattered due to the SF-23’s decline in performance during race stints compared to the solid performance in qualifying, where Charles Leclerc secured the team’s only non-Red Bull pole position of the year, at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan.
Following a disappointing weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix in Montmelo, where the Maranello team’s sole achievement was Carlos Sainz finishing the race in fifth place, Frederic Vasseur sheds light on the Italian side’s efforts to unravel the disparity in performance between qualifying and race day.
“You can’t compare Miami and Barcelona in terms of layout, tarmac and energy on the tyres, but I would say that the global picture is the same,” – the French manager said in an interview following the Spanish Grand Prix, as he tried to explain the main issues encountered by his side – “We are there in qualifying, and we are not there in the race. We are still inconsistent on the same car between compounds and sometimes between the same compounds. We have 1,000 people [working] on this now and it is very difficult to understand and to fix it because it’s not always the same.”
“It’s true that in qualifying, you are in free air and in the race you are not. I think Charles struggled a lot in the first stint [in Barcelona] as he was a lot closer to the car in front of him. The main issue for us is not the potential on the lap on [high-speed] corners, the main issue is the inconsistency. On Charles’ car for example, between the first and third stints with the same compound (the Hard tyre), one the balance was out of place, and the last one was okayish, and with Carlos, he did a decent first stint, and in the middle, he lost 15 or 20 seconds.” – the Ferrari boss pointed out.
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The Maranello team introduced a major upgrade package for the SF-23 car during the Montmelo weekend, which included new sidepods, with a design similar to the Red Bull concept, and Frederic Vasseur is confident Ferrari is heading in the right director despite not being able to show this in terms of results:
“We made a step forward in terms of potential. In qualifying pace at least, we were able to put Carlos on the front row which is probably a step forward, and in the race, you could consider we made a step forward to Aston Martin, but it’s not enough as we still have a huge delta performance to Mercedes, qualifying to race. We have to put all the focus of the company to come back and have a good race on Sundays and score points.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded.
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