Charles Leclerc has been on fire since the first free practice session through the streets of the Principality. The Monegasque delivered strong performances all weekend, but in Monaco qualifying, the No.16 Ferrari saw pole position slip away to McLaren by just a tenth.
Fred Vasseur explained that there wasn’t a clear reason why Charles lost that time, as the gap was so minimal. “We lost something due to traffic with Max between Turn 7 and Turn 8. In any case, we did a good job.” As for Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying, the Ferrari team principal highlighted the excellent work by the mechanics, who managed to get the British driver back on track for the session despite his crash in FP3.
What’s the mood like in the Ferrari camp after qualifying? The Ferrari TP didn’t show much satisfaction and even admitted to some disappointment. “I’m not very happy today, I’m a bit frustrated because we weren’t far from pole position. I think Charles did a great job all weekend and we missed pole by a tiny margin.”
The Frenchman didn’t shift focus from the most important part of the weekend—the race, where the points are scored. This year in Monaco, drivers will be required to make two pit stops. According to Fred Vasseur, this will open the door to many strategic possibilities. “Here it’s always a lottery, and tomorrow it’ll be multiplied by two. Clearly having two cars in the top four always helps. We need to focus on ourselves and be opportunistic with our strategy.”
From Imola to Monaco: Ferrari’s step forward
Fred Vasseur’s team has shown a significant step forward on the streets of the Principality, despite low expectations going into the weekend. The Ferrari boss highlighted the improvement in qualifying, which at Imola was the team’s weakest point of the weekend. “It was mostly a tough Saturday, because then Sunday went well. I think we were one of the fastest cars on Sunday.”
What enabled Ferrari to make these improvements? According to Fred Vasseur, preparation and tyre management played a fundamental role. “Today we found better conditions for the tyres and for the car. We prepared the session very well starting from Q1. It was tricky with the medium tyres because, once again, that compound was far off the softs, and we even did a lap in Q2 to test it.”
Fred Vasseur concluded by commenting further on Monaco qualifying, first addressing Lewis Hamilton’s situation and then Charles Leclerc’s. The Briton is under investigation for impeding Max Verstappen, but the TP doesn’t seem too worried about a penalty. “No, honestly I don’t think he’ll get one, because Max was on his line.”
Finally, he acknowledged Charles Leclerc’s frustration. “He was ahead all weekend, he was fighting for pole position and ended qualifying just a tenth off. But I can understand his frustration. And honestly, I would’ve been upset if Charles had been happy.”
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