Ferrari started the Jeddah weekend, home of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, in a more convincing way compared to previous outings this season.
As has already happened, the Scuderia once again leaned on Charles Leclerc’s shoulders—fourth today—while Lewis Hamilton continues to find the right confidence with an SF-25 which, according to Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur, has not yet been fully exploited.
The car has more potential than what has been shown so far, at least according to the French manager. The progress compared to the first races has been small but still visible. The team must continue in the same direction and work better to take fuller advantage of the car.
“Like every week, we want to take a step forward compared to the previous weekend. In the last GP, we improved, but we weren’t consistent enough throughout the entire weekend in all conditions; we had some very good stints and others less so. Now, I think it’s all about tire management: the potential is in the car, we just need to do a better job.”
At this point, the French manager metaphorically put on a chef’s hat, talking about managing ingredients—when and how to use them to get the desired result. All of this in an effort to extract the full potential from a car that Maranello believes in, but of which only glimpses have been seen so far.
“The ingredients are all there, but now it’s like cooking, and you need to put the ingredients together at the right time. Honestly, I don’t have the feeling that we’ve extracted the best from the car so far, or maybe only on some occasions, in some sessions. But I’d say that applies to us and to others. Even McLaren, with the pace it has compared to the rest of the grid, sometimes one of its cars struggles a bit more.” – the Ferrari team boss concluded at the end of the second free practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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