Scuderia Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur has admitted that the huge race deficit as compared to rivals Red Bull in the first round of the 2023 Formula 1 season was unexpected. Despite the fact that the Maranello team seemed close to Red Bull in the qualifying session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz, the only Ferrari driver to see the checkered flag in Sakhir, ended the race almost 50 seconds behind Max Verstappen, who easily went on to win the race.
The Dutchman started from pole position and built a solid gap at the top right from the very first laps, dominating the season opener, with Ferrari unable to match Red Bull’s pace as the Austrian side secured a one-two finish at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Charles Leclerc was able to overtake Sergio Perez at the start and managed to defend against the Mexican during the first stint of the race, also thanks to the new set of soft tyres saved in Q3, but the Monegasque was passed by Sergio Perez for P2 on lap 26, as Red Bull was able to make a second stint on softs, while the Maranello team had to focus on the hard tyre due to high tyre wear.
Carlos Sainz had also struggled with tyre degradation for most of the race and ended the Bahrain Grand Prix outside the podium, being overtaken by the impressive Aston Martin car of Fernando Alonso in the final stages of the race, while his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc suffered a power unit failure while running in P3 and had to stop the car on the side of the track, putting and end to a disappointing first race for the Italian side:
“It’s a shame not to finish the first one but before we can draw any conclusions (on the failure), we have to understand exactly what has happened,” explained Frederic Vasseur at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix – “But overall, I would say that the picture is not the one we expected before the race. If I wanted to summarise the situation, I would say that on the quali pace, we are there – we are matching Red Bull at least in Bahrain. It was a positive point. Now, we have to be fully realistic. If we want to improve, we have to have a clear picture of the situation and the reliability is not at the level that we need.” – the French manager added.
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No concept change for the Maranello team despite poor start
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted immediately following the first qualifying session of the new season that his team made the wrong decision by sticking with its 2022 concept and will now have to evaluate the ideal alternative in order to have a chance of recovering the gap to Red Bull, who at this stage seems untouchable.
After the Mercedes decision and taking into consideration the huge pace deficit compare to the race winners in Bahrain, Frederic Vasseur was asked if he feels the SF-23 car can be improved to challenge Red Bull during the current championship:
“I’m completely convinced about this,” – the French manager pointed out – “I never saw a car that was able to match the pace of another one in qualifying and not be able to in the race. Then, it is a matter of set up and some choices on the car. But this is not a matter of concept at all. I don’t think that we have to go in this direction.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded.
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