Fred Vasseur targets McLaren battle at Suzuka: “Tomorrow we can catch them” | 2023 Japan GP. Fred Vasseur targets McLaren battle at Suzuka after qualifying.

Victims of Sargeant
Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix represented a return to reality for Ferrari after their success in Singapore. However, the Maranello team did not disappoint, securing a second row with Charles Leclerc – just four thousandths of a second behind the McLaren pair in front of him – and a third row with Carlos Sainz. The winner in Marina Bay will start from the sixth position, even behind Sergio Perez’s Red Bull.

The results could have been even better for the Prancing Horse without Logan Sargeant’s off-track excursion in Q1. The American driver, in fact, caused a red flag that complicated the plans of the Ferrari team, forcing them to “waste” an extra set of soft tires.

“We expected a qualifying session of this kind, maybe with slightly better results,” confirmed Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari’s team principal, at the end of the qualifying session in an interview with Sky Sport F1. “Q1 was tough, we had to use a second set of new tires after the red flag, which is why we had to save one set for Q3. But Charles was just a tenth off the front row, or even less. The track was improving, and the temperature was dropping, but it went as it did. We can’t blame Sargeant for the accident; he certainly didn’t do it on purpose. Unfortunately, we had just completed a lap right before his incident, so we had to use the second set. In Q2, margins were minimal, so it was the right choice to use the second set with Charles.”

Confidence for the race
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, Fred Vasseur appeared optimistic and confident. “The race is open,” the French manager said. “We showed a good pace on Friday. The track is very demanding, and it’s much hotter than usual here in Suzuka. It will be a challenge in terms of strategy. However, we have a good opportunity to catch the McLarens because we have demonstrated good pace. The start here is always a critical point. I don’t want to dwell on the past, but it’s not easy to tackle turns 1-2 at the start. I think, however, the most important aspect will be a clean strategy because it will be a more demanding track for the tires.” – he pointed out.

Naturally, considerations must also be made in terms of the championship. The red cars are ahead of the Mercedes, who are second in the Constructors’ Championship with a 24-point lead. “We are in a battle with Mercedes for 2nd place in the World Championship,” Vasseur reiterated. “And everything we can bring to the next races will be important. You can see that gaining a tenth of a second can recover five or six positions, so we need to keep pushing in the factory and on the track from now on because it’s the best way to achieve success. If we can bring something else, we will do it by the end of the season to fight until the end of the championship. A dominant Red Bull? Perhaps the case in Singapore was an anomaly for them; today they did an excellent job. Suzuka is by definition the best track for them, and we didn’t expect anything different. We will have more opportunities, and our goal will be to put some pressure on them because if we do, they might make mistakes, as happened in Singapore. We need to take a small step forward, and this will help us.” – Fred Vasseur concluded at the end of the qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix.