In a qualifying session that ended with Ferrari as the fourth force behind McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes, it’s clearly difficult for Team Principal Frederic Vasseur to draw a positive assessment of Ferrari’s Saturday in Jeddah.
What was truly disappointing was not so much the position, but the gap, because while the top three teams were all within just over a tenth, Charles Leclerc couldn’t go beyond fourth place, over three and a half tenths off, even though on Friday he had suggested that he had found a clear direction to follow for the rest of the weekend.
The more than three tenths accumulated by the Red team undoubtedly carry weight, especially since much of that gap stems precisely from the first chicane, while for the rest of the lap the SF-25 isn’t far off the reference times of its rivals.
The regret remains for that first part of the track, because without the time lost at the first chicane, Ferrari could have been in the fight for more or, at the very least, significantly reduced the gap.
This was also mentioned by Fred Vasseur at the end of qualifying during an interview with Sky, where he tried to explain why the Red car struggled so much all weekend to get the tyres to work in the first part of the track, although he added that there’s reason to hope for more in tomorrow’s race.
Realistically, even during free practice, there wasn’t a significant degradation, which will push the race toward a one-stop strategy, but Fred Vasseur believes Ferrari might have a better race pace compared to their single-lap performance.
Charles did a good job, he said there was no grip to do more. Could something more have been done?
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“You can always do a better job and achieve more, but it’s true that since the beginning of the weekend we’ve been losing a lot in Turn 1. I think we are three tenths off pole and we’re losing three tenths in Turn 1. But that’s how it went, we have to focus on the race. So far on long runs we’ve had a good pace, even though we couldn’t test it yesterday due to the red flag. But from the start of the season we’ve performed better over long distance than in qualifying, so anything is possible tomorrow.”
Many struggled in the first sector. Do you think your issues were due to tyre temperature or grip?
“We’ll see tomorrow over the long run when things stabilize. But it’s true that all weekend we’ve struggled in Turn 1. If you push too much in the out-lap, it’s hard to finish the lap, and if you don’t push enough, you struggle in Turns 1 and 2. It’s a very delicate balance to find, and we’ve really struggled in Turn 1.”
Are you starting to worry about Lewis’s lack of confidence considering the gap to Charles?
“The situation is completely different from last weekend. Last week Lewis had good pace from the start and then messed up the final lap in Q3, whereas this weekend was a bit tougher—he struggled from the beginning to find the right balance, and on this type of circuit with walls, if you don’t have confidence in the car, it becomes harder. But we’ll see tomorrow—last week in Bahrain he made a nice recovery.”
After 5 races, is it hard to believe that Lewis still hasn’t adapted to this car? What is he really missing?
“That’s a fair point, but it hasn’t been five races. Two races ago in China he had a good race, found a good balance, and was fighting for pole and victory, so it’s not a learning curve issue. It’s a matter of balance—we need to find the right one for him from track to track. We’ve struggled so far, but we managed to get it right two or three races ago and I’m sure we’ll do it again.”
Are you disappointed or is the situation just what it is?
“I’m disappointed because we’re not here to be three tenths off pole, and I have the feeling we haven’t managed to put everything together this weekend, so it’s a bit frustrating. But the race is on Sunday, and in Jeddah it’s possible to overtake. Still, it’s true that from one weekend to the next the situation can completely flip. Verstappen won in Japan, then struggled in Bahrain, and now he’s back in front. That means consistency is hard to find for us and for others—maybe a bit less for McLaren, but that’s the picture.”
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