Abu Dhabi, Charles Leclerc 2nd on the grid, but Fred Vasseur is not surprised
Considering Ferrari’s difficulties on Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi, seeing an SF-23 on the front row is an unexpected result. Thanks to a Charles Leclerc, as usual, in deluxe qualifying mode: the Monegasque driver produced a perfect lap and pushed the limits of a car that, for once, seemed more suited to the race than a single lap. The second place, 139 milliseconds behind Max Verstappen, surprised everyone but not team principal Frederic Vasseur, who emphasized how #16 has been performing exceptionally well on Saturdays for several weekends.
Fred Vasseur’s comments
“It’s probably true that Charles struggled more on certain tracks or conditions, had a tough moment at the beginning of the second part of the season, but in the last 6-7 races, he’s always up there on the front row and is having good races. He had some unfortunate incidents, but he’s always focused, and it’s important for the team. We can also see that he reacted well to Carlos’s victory, which is positive. We need a leader like Charles pulling us along at the moment, it feels good,” commented the Frenchman for Sky Sport F1.
The Frenchman then chose the happiest moment of his first year with Ferrari: “Honestly, it’s not Singapore, I think Monza was a much bigger emotion; I still have the image with the fans on my laptop. Singapore gave me the first win in F1, but Monza was magical.”
“The important thing is that you feel within the team the emotion and a passion much greater than any other place. You shouldn’t oppose this passion, but it’s necessary to have a more consistent approach: if you get pole position, you’re not the world champion; if you go out in Q1, it’s not the end of the world. We know the gap from Red Bull is significant, but we are on the right track, and that’s positive.”
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