Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur sees a competitive SF-24 car once again. After the podium in Sakhir, in Jeddah the first Ferrari, that of Charles Leclerc, will start from the front row alongside the usual Max Verstappen. Oliver Bearman, substituting for the injured Carlos Sainz, debuted with an encouraging 11th place in qualifying.
In short, for the Maranello team, there seem to be all the elements to be optimistic, even in an emergency situation like the one the Scuderia is experiencing this weekend due to Carlos Sainz’s illness.
Fred Vasseur appeared on Sky Sport F1 microphones at the end of Qualifying to give an update on the situation. It was impossible not to commend with an ideal pat on the back the performance of the newcomer Ollie Bearman, without forgetting the great lap that allowed Charles Leclerc to climb to the front row.
The expectations for the race, then, seem to be interesting. It won’t be easy to beat Verstappen, but Charles Leclerc’s race pace shown yesterday calls for optimism.
Vasseur, how do you rate the performance provided by newcomer Bearman today?
“Ollie did a fantastic performance today. We called him at 2 in the afternoon (local) and told him he would have to get in the car for Free Practice 3 in Jeddah. He did a great job and missed Q3 by just a couple of tenths. For me, he had an excellent session. This morning we focused on getting him to try the procedures, the start, pit stops, and so on. Tomorrow will be another challenge, but today went well.”
Yesterday you tried the Softs in the long runs. Will it be an option for you at the start?
“We’ll see tomorrow if we start with the Softs. Last week we had 2 cars in the top positions, while this time only one. Yesterday we had a good pace in the race simulation. The important thing is to focus on ourselves and have a good strategy, because here in Jeddah there have often been red flags, Safety Cars that have made the race unpredictable. We’ll have to be opportunistic at the right moments.”
Did you think you were closer to Verstappen in qualifying? Leclerc seemed upset at the end of the session…
“We knew it was going to be a tight qualifying and it was. It was more difficult to put together a good lap with new tires because you have to bring them up to temperature. It was easier with used Softs. In the last attempt, Charles did a great preparation lap and a great fast lap, but it wasn’t enough to beat Max. We’ll see tomorrow. We have a good pace and we don’t have to think about the others. If Charles was disappointed it’s because he’s competitive, second place is not enough for him and I agree with him, I support him. I like that attitude.”
Do you think Ferrari can beat Verstappen tomorrow in the race? Are there chances?
“Max looks very fast this time too. If we look at the race simulation he did, he was very fast. On a single lap, he was very fast, but we are not too far from him. It’s a matter of tenths. Of course, over 60 laps, it becomes a lot, but it’s a matter of tenths. We need to be able to make those small steps forward that we were able to make last year to catch up with him. Last year we started 1 second behind and then we improved, managing to fight with him in some situations. This year we start from a better position and we must maintain the same approach and the same dedication to improve even in the small details. We must continue to push, then we’ll see what the result will be.”
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