Singapore represents one of the last (perhaps the final) chances for the Prancing Horse team to secure a win, yet the results of the two SF-25s in qualifying are dimming those hopes. Mercedes, Red Bull, and McLaren proved stronger than the Ferraris, which are now effectively the fourth fastest team and, barring a major surprise, likely to remain so in tomorrow’s race.
Ferrari’s team principal spoke to Sky Sport F1, explaining that the team was unable to extract the true potential of the car. Charles Leclerc indicated problems with ride heights, while Lewis Hamilton highlighted operational issues on track that undermined results when it mattered most. Fred Vasseur, however, said it is still too early to determine exactly what went wrong in Marina Bay qualifying.
“The feeling is that we weren’t able to get the potential out of the car. I think this happened throughout the weekend and specifically today. It’s true that we had very good pace on Friday morning, and in Q1 we set the time needed to advance. From that moment on, perhaps we didn’t take the right direction in qualifying. It’s too early to say, but it is disappointing when we compare this result to what we achieved Friday morning and in Q1, when we were fastest,” Fred Vasseur said.
Mercedes surprised everyone with their competitiveness on a hot track, more than for any other reason. The French manager admitted he was surprised, having seen them struggle heavily yesterday.
“It’s true that we’re behind Mercedes, but the same goes for Red Bull and McLaren. Mercedes has improved. Yesterday they struggled, but today they made a huge step forward. They were impressive, making enormous progress compared to everyone, not just us,” he added.
Fred Vasseur also offered another perspective that will certainly spark discussion. McLaren missed the front row, with only Oscar Piastri making it into the top two, meaning a relatively disappointing showing for the MCL39s. Yet Fred Vasseur emphasized that Ferrari was just a tenth behind the dominant cars of the current season, overlooking how minimal the gaps between all the cars were this weekend.
“Everything on the SF-25 is very tight. It’s not an easy car to drive, and even preparing the tyres for a flying lap is tricky. Sometimes you start the lap in perfect conditions, but you don’t finish in the same state. Everything is very close to the limit. But I want to focus on the positives from the weekend. We were among the fastest Friday morning, fastest in Q1. We need to continue with this approach, push, and believe we can do it, because today we are just a tenth behind McLaren.”
