Ferrari confirms its competitiveness at Silverstone
Ferrari once again proved it has the pace to fight at the front during qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Although the team could not repeat Lewis Hamilton’s Sprint Qualifying pole from Friday, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton secured second and third on the grid respectively, beaten only by a superb Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Both Ferrari drivers also finished ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes, confirming that, contrary to pre-weekend expectations, the SF-26 has established itself as the second-fastest car at Silverstone, comfortably outperforming both Red Bull and McLaren.
Speaking to Sky Sport F1, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur reflected on the team’s impressive qualifying performance and looked ahead to Sunday’s race.
Fred Vasseur delighted for Charles Leclerc
“First of all, I’m very happy with Charles’ result today,” Fred Vasseur said, beginning with praise for the Monegasque driver after several challenging weekends.
“It’s his second consecutive front-row start because he was already on the front row last week in Austria. It’s true that we made a few changes to the car, but every weekend the car is slightly different, so you have to find the right setup. Step by step, he’s getting there.”
“I’m really pleased for him because he was under a bit of pressure. It’s not easy to keep working calmly in those situations, but today he was very strong.”
Race strategy could be Ferrari’s biggest weapon
Looking ahead to the British Grand Prix, Vasseur believes strategy could play a decisive role.
“Winning tomorrow? During the Sprint our pace compared to Kimi was decent. We completed 17 laps and finished around two and a half seconds behind. Racing against them is difficult because they have higher top speed, which makes overtaking very difficult for us.”
“But we’ll also see what happens with strategy. Unlike the Sprint, tomorrow we’ll have pit stops, so we’ll be able to decide whether to extend the first stint or not. Having two cars near the front also gives us the possibility of trying different strategies.”
“Overall, it’s been a positive day. Lewis finished on the Sprint podium and Charles secured a front-row start.”
Finding the right compromise
Fred Vasseur also explained that Ferrari did not have to make major compromises between Sprint performance and Grand Prix preparation, although the team continued learning throughout the weekend.
“We didn’t really have to compromise much this weekend,” he said. “But everyone always learns something. We’re constantly trying to improve, and we’re no smarter than anyone else. You can’t change the car between Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint Race, so all the decisions have to be made after the Sprint while keeping both qualifying and race pace in mind. We saw this morning that overtaking is possible here. We had decent pace, but it also depends on how you choose to use your energy deployment.”
“This morning everything was quite unusual because some drivers were 10 km/h faster on one straight, while others were 10 km/h faster on another.”
Why Ferrari exceeded expectations at Silverstone
Fred Vasseur also responded to questions about his earlier prediction that Ferrari would struggle at Silverstone because of its power deficit: “Was I acting when I said we wouldn’t be competitive here? No,” he replied. “The truth is that we still have a deficit. Every circuit is different when it comes to energy deployment, and today we still have a power deficit.”
“We’ve certainly changed a few things compared to last week, and the conditions are also different. Here you have high-speed corners leading onto long straights. That means if your chassis is stable, you can achieve much smoother energy deployment.”
“It’s a combination of several different factors. This weekend, it’s not just about engine power.”
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