Ferrari secures a spot in the DRS train
Second row with Carlos Sainz and third row with Charles Leclerc: the cancellation of Oscar Piastri’s timed lap made Ferrari’s Saturday at the Red Bull Ring less bitter. However, on the hills of Styria, the Maranello team is still struggling with the phenomenon of bouncing, especially in the high-speed corners of the final sector.
After the Sprint race earlier today, Charles Leclerc especially called for a setup change to take some risks and avoid being so slow. The Monegasque driver attempted an attack on the third fastest time, but locked up at Turn 4 and then went straight over the curb at Turn 9, probably damaging the floor.
Frederic Vasseur commented on a complicated day for the Italian side in an interview for Sky Sport F1 at the end of the qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix. The team principal is convinced they can fight for the podium in tomorrow’s race: “We made a small step forward compared to yesterday, but it’s definitely not enough because we wanted to be further up the grid. Overall, I think we made a step forward. Charles was having a good lap, then he had a lock-up at Turn 4, but before that, he was much faster compared to the previous attempt. This means it was a good lap, but clearly the goal is to complete the lap and not just have a good lap until Turn 4.” – the French manager pointed out.
“However, we are in a better condition than yesterday. Today we saw that there is a sort of DRS train, and if you get into the right train, you can stay in that train. I imagine there will be a lot of battles on the first lap tomorrow, and clearly, the race will be different from the Sprint because strategy comes into play, so you can also play at that level. However, it’s clear that the DRS train has a huge effect. We’re talking almost six-tenths per lap, and that’s the gap between the second and tenth position. This means that if you get into the right train, you can stay in the DRS, which is very powerful. We’ve undoubtedly solved the brake temperature issue, but I think everyone had this problem this morning because once you get into the DRS train, everything overheats, and you have to manage the pace and lift and coast. The negative surprise yesterday was the bouncing that went beyond expectations, and this hurt the drivers in the high-speed corners between Turn 7 and Turn 10. Today we’ve fixed things a bit, though it’s not enough, but we’re getting closer.” – Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur concluded his assessment.
