Fred Vasseur gives verdict on Ferrari's performance and result in Suzuka qualifying

A close battle and mixed feelings in qualifying

In Suzuka, at least in qualifying, Scuderia Ferrari received a harsh wake-up call after the splendid one-two finish from two weeks ago at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. Carlos Sainz limited the damage, finishing a good fourth behind the two Red Bull cars and the McLaren of Lando Norris. It’s unlikely that the Spaniard will be able to fight for the win tomorrow, but he will certainly be able to contend for a podium spot. The prospects for Charles Leclerc are decidedly less rosy, finishing only eighth in Q3 and thus forced to struggle from the fourth row on the grid. The Maranello team principal, Fred Vasseur, confirmed to Sky Sport F1 that it is “difficult to have a clear picture for tomorrow’s race.”

The first lap will be crucial

“We are all very close – Fred Vasseur explained – there’s a tenth of a second difference between fourth and ninth in qualifying, which means the group will be very tight.” According to the head of the Ferrari pit wall, the key to the race could come right at the start: “The 1st lap will be very important – the Ferrari team principal continued – and it’s true that the degradation was under control between this morning and yesterday. This puts us in a good position for the race. It’s a pity about the starting position, because we were aiming for a better result.” – the French manager admitted.

The problems of Charles Leclerc

Fred Vasseur then analyzed the fact that Charles Leclerc, in Q3, had only one attempt available, not having been able to save a larger number of sets of new tires: “The mistake with Charles, if there was one, was to have risked the first lap in Q1. This forced us to fit a second set in Q2. So, we were always a bit behind and had to use only one set in Q3, while our direct competitors did two attempts. However, this stems from Q1, not Q3. It’s a shame because I think we could have done better today. In all the sessions, it was turn 17, the last part of the chicane, where half of the gap to Max was created. We need to talk about it, I haven’t seen Charles after the session yet. We’re talking about a tenth between Russell’s ninth position and Sainz’s fourth, but the details are important and we need to focus on them to understand why we lose so much time in the last sector. This is also important for the race perspective because traction will be crucial. There’s only one straight with DRS and we need to fix the problem for tomorrow.” – he added.

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“We need to pay attention to the race pace itself – Fred Vasseur concluded – because we don’t know the fuel levels and engine mappings of the others. The important thing is the degradation. In this sense, it went well and shows that we have good chances of doing well in the race tomorrow, but the position we have in the first lap will be very important, to have a clear track ahead, because it’s not easy to overtake in Suzuka and doing 30 laps behind another car is a problem.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded.

Fred Vasseur, Ferrari