It could have gone worse, but it could have also gone a bit better. Ferrari finds itself evaluating the sixth place achieved by Charles Leclerc and the 11th by Carlos Sainz in the Qualifying session for the Dutch Grand Prix, one of the most challenging events for the Reds for some years now.
At the end of the official sessions on the Zandvoort track, Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur spoke to Sky Sport F1 to comment on what happened this afternoon, and to assess the race tomorrow, where the Reds are expected to perform more competitively compared to the qualifying, where they played a secondary role.
Fred Vasseur, do you think Ferrari could have achieved a better result today?
“For Leclerc, this was the best possible result, yes and no. Perhaps we could have fought with Perez and gained another position. But due to the track’s layout and the lack of updates, we didn’t expect much, especially since last year, this was our worst race. However, we must still try to have the best possible race and bring home as many points as possible in tomorrow’s race.”
And regarding Carlos?
“From Carlos’s perspective, it will be more difficult. Before qualifying, he never managed to do a lap with the Soft tires because yesterday, in the only dry session, he had a technical issue after a few minutes and couldn’t run anymore. He couldn’t prepare the lap with the Soft tires, and qualifying for Q3 became an impossible task with so many cars so close in lap times.”
Do you think bouncing was the main issue for Ferrari on this track?
“This is a very complex track for bouncing because there are very fast corners like 7 and 8. But we struggle more on the long corners, both this year and last year. We knew it would be a challenge for us, and it is, indeed. We’ve made progress on the bouncing, but we have to deal with the car’s limits. We’ll have more favorable tracks for us from here to the end of the season, but here it’s very important to score good points because it’s crucial to do so even when you’re in difficulty. We couldn’t do that in Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In those races, we really lost a lot of points, and if you look at it, we’re 60 points behind Red Bull today. That’s almost the number of points we lost in those GPs. That’s why tomorrow it will be important to have a good race and finish in the points.”
What kind of race can we expect for Sainz, starting from 11th? Could you adopt an aggressive strategy?
“I think Carlos Sainz will quickly make up ground in the race. He missed Q3 by a tenth. In the race, other aspects like tire management will come into play. We are confident in our ability to manage the tires well, and we might do something in terms of strategy. Often, there’s a right solution that works for both strategy and tire choice. Doing something drastically different could take you further away from the optimal. So, there’s always a downside to taking certain risks.”
Do you think Ferrari could be more competitive in race pace compared to today?
“Yesterday, in the race simulation, we only had one car available, Charles Leclerc’s, so we gathered less data. I think Lando Norris was always a step ahead, but then we were close to the others. It will also depend on the track conditions, plus temperatures should be lower, and there should be less wind. When the difference is so small, 2 tenths between all the cars except Norris, then it’s the details that make the difference.”
What weather conditions are you hoping to find for tomorrow’s race?
“When you’re struggling in general, you hope for consistent conditions to bring something out. So far, the weather has been up and down. We’ll just have to do our best with whatever we find in tomorrow’s race.”
