At Ferrari, there was no hiding: the Qatar GP would not be favorable for the SF-24. In fact, the Scuderia was forced to play defensively to limit the damage in the constructors’ standings against McLaren, which found the Losail circuit more suited to the characteristics of its car. Thus, Ferrari approached the Sprint sessions first and qualifying later fully respecting these expectations, left with a bitter taste after a promising first practice session.
However, over time, the performance of the SF-24 improved, although it was not comparable to the leaders, with McLaren proving superior in the Sprint sessions (better than a nervous and understeering Ferrari). This was an issue that the team’s engineers could not resolve before Parc Fermé ahead of the race qualification, where the SF-24 continued to underperform, finishing behind McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull. During the race, up until the chaotic finale, the situation appeared unchanged—less than ideal for the battle for the constructors’ title—with McLaren seemingly in better shape and extending their lead in the standings. However, the final laps, aided by Charles Leclerc’s restart and Norris’s harsh penalty for not slowing under yellow flags, allowed Ferrari to overturn the situation, finishing second and sixth with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, narrowing the gap to their papaya-colored rivals and postponing the constructors’ title fight to the final race in Abu Dhabi.
A tense and chaotic race, analyzed by Ferrari’s team principal Fréd Vasseur on Sky Sport F1. Fred Vasseur first expressed his satisfaction at deferring the constructors’ title decision to Abu Dhabi, then delved into the chaotic race finale and subsequent penalties imposed on Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
“It’s good that the championship will be decided in Abu Dhabi. Speaking of the penalties, we can’t argue about them, but regarding the mirror issue, we can certainly say that the Safety Car could have been deployed earlier. It would have been less dangerous. This happened during Leclerc’s overtaking of Bottas. But it was unfortunate for everyone. It’s easy to comment now; it would have been better to deploy a VSC and clean the track, but I believe they didn’t anticipate everything that occurred. It was off the racing line, but on the line used for overtaking.”
The Ferrari boss was then asked about the strategy adopted, which was very conservative in the first laps when Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were instructed not to push to avoid tire wear but ultimately accumulated a significant gap from the leaders.
“We were not worried about degradation; it was simply our plan: manage for 7-8 laps, and the drivers handled it well. Only after that did we push. We brought forward the stop, but I think the strategy was good.”
Additionally, the French manager commented on the decision not to fit Soft tires on Charles Leclerc’s car in the final laps to challenge McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. It was a choice deemed too risky by the team in red…
“No, we pitted two laps earlier and were confident in the Hard tires to push to the end. We considered fitting the Softs, but we would have had to manage them differently. Plus, a pit stop can always present risks.” – the French manager pointed out.
Finally, an inevitable question about the constructors’ title battle, which will ultimately be decided in Abu Dhabi—a track more suited to Ferrari, where the entire team will give it their all until the last corner of the last lap of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
“Let’s get through this race first. We’re still in the fight; anything is possible. We can focus on McLaren. We’re ahead of Red Bull, and Abu Dhabi will suit us better. With Max in the mix and Mercedes in the pack, everything will be uncertain. We’ll push like crazy until the last lap, and we’ll see.”
