Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur commented on the difficult qualifying session in Baku, explaining the choices made during key moments when Lewis Hamilton was out in Q2 and Charles Leclerc crashed at the start of Q3.
High expectations for Ferrari
Expectations for Ferrari in qualifying were very high. In Baku, the Scuderia came off four consecutive pole positions, all achieved by Charles Leclerc. This time, however, the Monegasque ended his session against the barrier before even attempting his first flying lap in Q3.
Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying, on the other hand, had already ended a few minutes earlier. The seven-time world champion was eliminated in Q2 despite showing a very promising pace in all three practice sessions in Azerbaijan.
Fred Vasseur speaks after qualifying
After qualifying, Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur spoke to Sky Sport F1 for the customary post-session analysis.
“Fred Vasseur, not the result you hoped for. Lewis was critical of the team’s execution regarding tires and fuel…”
“Well, not the fuel. We did everything to allow the drivers to do a flying lap. In qualifying, you can’t carry extra fuel in those situations. As for the tires, everyone was at the limit. Every team and driver on Mediums and Softs. Looking at the pole, it was set on Softs, but the second-fastest time was on used Mediums. It was strange for everyone. I don’t think the result comes from that. Perhaps the tires were too cold and not in the optimal window, but with the Softs, pole was still achieved.”
Leclerc and the medium tires
Regarding Leclerc, could he have avoided the crash if he had more time on the Medium tires? “I think so, but if he had tested more Mediums yesterday, we would have reduced the number of sets available. We only had three sets of Mediums. Yesterday that compound felt much better in practice, more ready. But with today’s gusty wind, it was difficult to get them up to temperature. Also, due to the cold. It was tough, but that’s not an excuse for us.”
Competitiveness and unexpected issues
The feeling was that the car was competitive in the right window, but then everything changed. “Yes, but Charles’ lap up until the crash wasn’t bad. It wasn’t at Carlos’ level but it was faster than Lando Norris up to that point. Some things went wrong. Certainly, the result isn’t what we wanted, also due to the crash, of course. But now we need to focus on the race and not let a bad qualifying ruin everything.”
Race strategy and opportunities
Do you think you can do anything for tomorrow in terms of strategy, considering many strong drivers will start from the back? “Yes, the order is mixed up, and overtaking in Baku is difficult. There are only low-downforce wings and the DRS effect will be smaller. But the race is long, and there will be opportunities through incidents and various situations. We need to react well to the events that arise during the race. We saw it last year with Lando Norris, who managed to climb from the back of the grid.”
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