British Grand Prix qualifying, Ferrari disappoints fans
At Silverstone, only the home drivers were in the spotlight, with a British trio of Russell-Hamilton-Norris in the British GP qualifying that even stunned Max Verstappen. The Dutchman at least limited the damage to the floor in Q1. Ferrari, on the other hand, struggled and finished behind Haas: Carlos Sainz was seventh, Charles Leclerc 11th, and eliminated in Q2. These results are only partially due to incidents, as the Spaniard made a mistake at turn-4 in his last attempt and the Monegasque lost ground exiting Becketts on his decisive Q2 lap. However, as the Monte Carlo winner himself highlighted, the pace is lacking.
The speed of a car that is clearly the fourth force on the track is an aspect team principal Frederic Vasseur mentions but does not emphasize, as he believes today’s results are due to driving or operational errors (for example, sending Carlos Sainz out late, forcing him into an unclean out lap and a battle with Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso).
Fred Vasseur’s comments
“Yesterday we used both versions on the two cars and decided to revert to the old specification because we had more bouncing with the new one in high-speed corners, but I’m not sure that’s the explanation for today’s bad result. It was clear yesterday that there was bouncing with the new specification, so we decided to go back to the old one, at least for this weekend. Due to the track layout and the number of fast corners, it made perfect sense to do so. Market? We shouldn’t mix things up; let’s focus on what we are doing on track,” commented the Frenchman to Sky Sport F1. “In Q2, there were nine cars within a tenth. Overall, we had everything together, but we’re not in the best conditions either on a single lap or race pace. However, Charles made a mistake in turn-3 that cost him three-tenths, and when you have eight cars within a tenth, it becomes a bit difficult. Then, as you saw, there was a lot of confusion at the pit lane exit: Carlos had an out lap battling with Piastri and Alonso, and it’s not the best way to prepare for the lap. He was doing well until turn-4, then missed the apex by five or six meters, and in the end, we couldn’t put everything together. But I believe it’s more a matter of operations.” – the Ferrari team principal pointed out.
“We were a tenth behind Russell in Q2 and then missed Q3 entirely. We didn’t win the championship after Monte Carlo, and we haven’t become complete idiots after today. We need to calmly put everything together to have a clean and well-executed qualifying, which we couldn’t achieve today,” he continued. “We shouldn’t draw conclusions about our pace and potential. We couldn’t put everything together. If I want dry or wet conditions? I’m not sure what I would choose, but I think it will be a bit chaotic. That would be better for us; maybe opportunities will arise, and we must try to seize them. Meanwhile, let’s focus on our performance without making absurd bets and risks.” – he added.
“I’m happy for Nico and Haas; I don’t care who’s ahead of us because we need to be ahead of everyone. Actually, I prefer to have them in front; it’s not frustrating. We didn’t do a good job overall today, and in these circumstances, when there are eight to ten cars so close, you can’t make mistakes. This means we need to put everything together, from mechanics to engineers to drivers: we all have to be perfect, because if we’re not, we lose those two or three-tenths, and that’s damaging.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded at the end of the qualifying session for the 2024 Formula One British Grand Prix.
