Fred Vasseur admits to "frustrating" qualifying but expects "another story" in Miami GP race

Fred Vasseur admits to “frustrating” qualifying but expects “another story” in Miami GP race. Frederic Vasseur analyzes the Miami qualifying.

Max Verstappen is on pole position for the 2024 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, but the Ferrari SF-24 cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are not far behind: toppling Max Verstappen was possible and Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur analyzes the Miami qualifying.

The qualifying session in Miami is overall positive for the Prancing Horse. The team principal of the Italian side can consider himself satisfied, but only halfway. Pole position was not far off: “There’s a bit of frustration, we hoped for a slightly better result,” admits the French team principal.

“We all had some difficulty in getting the softs up to temperature, but it was a good performance in the end.” Struggling with the tires is a common difficulty for everyone in the American qualifiers: “We were all a bit on the limit, and if you went over the limit, you overheated the tires and lost everything.” – he pointed out.

Concerns about the tires stop at qualifying. “The race pace has nothing to do with the lap preparation. And anyway, we won’t be racing with the softs,” explains Fred Vasseur.

The head of the Maranello team can be partially satisfied. At the end of Q3, only Max Verstappen precedes the Ferrari duo: “Overall, it went well, we managed to put everything together.”

“Tomorrow will be another story, and Imola will be yet another story,” he admits, partially revealing some news for the next weekend. In the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Ferrari is indeed expecting a substantial package of updates that should significantly help the SF-24.

Fred Vasseur then reflects on how events unfolded in the Sprint event in view of Sunday’s race: “We were a little slower than Max, by two or three tenths.” Crucial for the Grand Prix will be the role of the rear movable wing, activatable from the second lap. For the French boss, the opportunity to attack Max lies precisely in that factor: “In the race, it will be important to make a clean first lap. The DRS here is very powerful; it will be crucial to have it on the first lap.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded at the end of the qualifying session for the 2024 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.