Frédéric Vasseur was satisfied as he spoke to Sky Sport to comment on the first two practice sessions of the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna. The Ferrari team principal acknowledged the double fastest time set by Charles Leclerc in both sessions, and more importantly, the excellent feeling both drivers had with the SF-24 equipped with updates that debuted during last weekend’s filming day at Fiorano.
The times are good both in qualifying laps and race pace. However, Vasseur remains cautious and emphasizes that both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen will be contenders for pole position and the win on Sunday.
“We had two good sessions today, even though there are strong opponents. Norris, for example, was competitive even though he couldn’t complete his fast lap. We need to stay focused on our work.”
McLaren differentiated the tire work between its drivers during FP2. You, on the other hand, continue to do the same thing with both…
“We are used to having both drivers work on the same tire compound. Since the beginning of the year, and even last year, we have been following the same program. This way, we can compare the work we do through the fuel loads we use on both cars.”
What are the initial feedbacks on the updates you brought to Imola?
“We are happy with the updates, but it’s still early days. It’s not about gaining a couple of seconds, but about small details. So far, so good. We haven’t had any issues. The most important point isn’t the performance, but that the drivers were in control. Perhaps even more so than our competitors, which is positive for this weekend, but there’s still a long way to go.”
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Charles Leclerc has been fast right from the start. A great sign for the weekend ahead…
“Leclerc’s feeling with the car has been good from the first lap of practice. He had great sensations regarding the balance. There was a lot of wind this morning, and the car wasn’t too unstable. This is positive for the rest of the weekend and the season. But we’re not the only ones. Lando Norris was also in a good position, and it will certainly be a great battle.”
Will it be a battle between Ferrari and McLaren tomorrow?
“In the fight for pole, it will be us against McLaren, but also Max. In FP1, Max was very fast in the first sector, then he had more sliding. But I’m sure they will put everything together tonight. It will be a very tight battle this weekend, but it has been like that in the last two races.”
Why did you replace the power unit on Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari? It’s the third of the season, and the second was introduced just two weeks ago in Miami…
“We changed Leclerc’s power unit because we had some doubts. We didn’t want to take any risks, especially since we brought updates here and didn’t want the car to stop during the weekend. We will reintroduce Power Unit 2, not next week, but in Canada.”
Is Imola an indicative track for getting important feedback from the car? If you do well here, are you confident of being competitive on most tracks?
“It’s not so much about doing well here for the overall performance of the car, but because we’re in Italy, which makes it even more important to achieve a good result for the team, the drivers, and myself. But I don’t think Imola is a more relevant track than others. However, if we do well, it benefits the team and we can try to maintain this motivation.”
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