Numerous drivers faced time deletions during Friday’s qualifying, and this trend continued into the Saturday shootout. The issues primarily occurred at Turns 12 and 13, where the white lines were relocated to protect the tires from damage caused by the curbs.
Among those penalized in the sprint event, Charles Leclerc from Ferrari, along with Lance Stroll, received a five-second penalty, causing the Monegasque to drop from seventh to 12th in the final rankings.
During Sunday’s Grand Prix, four drivers, namely Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez, Alex Albon, and Stroll, were handed penalties. The Ferrari boss stressed the importance of the FIA learning from these incidents, as similar problems had been a recurring issue during the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring:
“I would say that the biggest issue for me of the weekend is track limits. Because you know when you are going to Spielberg that you will have issues with track limits, and we had issues with track limits here, and you get the results two hours after the race. And when we came before the weekend, we told them exactly the same, that it will be a festival. And it was a festival. I think on top of this, the drivers at the end they perhaps lost a little bit of concentration, and some guys, the last 10 laps, they were doing strikes every single lap. But you can’t blame them in this situation, we have to find a solution.” – Fred Vasseur explained following the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend.
The French manager pointed out that it is becoming increasingly difficult for fans to understand what is happening on the track: “I think it’s not even good for the show. At least on the pit wall, you have the number of strikes, you can follow the story, you know where you are and so on. But I’m thinking about the guys who are in front of their TV, they don’t have the story about the strikes. And at one stage they see Gasly five seconds, Gasly 10 seconds, Gasly 15 seconds. We have to think also about this. I think that we can anticipate this kind of issue.” – the Ferrari team principal added.
When questioned about the appropriateness of such a situation, considering the significant investment made by Qatar in the Losail circuit and the event, Fred Vasseur expressed his viewpoint: “I won’t go on this field because I don’t know who is responsible for this. But it’s not just a matter of kerbs. It’s the complete process, the layout of the track, the kerbs, what is after the kerbs. We have to find a solution. But as you said, and I don’t want to go on this field and to speak about investment, but we are coming to Qatar, they are doing a mega effort to organise the event, and to have this outcome is for me is not at the level of the championship.” – he continued.
Fred Vasseur voiced his endorsement for the FIA’s actions in addressing the safety concerns related to Pirelli’s tires. These measures resulted in the imposition of restrictions on stint lengths during last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix:
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“I think the reaction was quite good. At the end of the day, it’s always for me safety first. And we were not sure [about the tyres], and to have this kind of reaction, we did a good race, it was a good show. And I would say that the reaction was very appropriate. It’s a bit of a shame to be in the situation.” – the Ferrari boss concluded.
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