Frederic Vasseur expressed confidence in Ferrari’s prospects ahead of the return of the Chinese GP, which will also see the debut of the new sprint format.
After a very solid start to the season, perhaps even above expectations, Ferrari heads to Shanghai with the aim of continuing the positive trend, with Red Bull “only” 21 points away after the first four races. In the last two Grands Prix, it was Carlos Sainz who shone, first achieving a stunning victory in Melbourne, then confirming his performance in Suzuka, finishing just behind the two Red Bulls.
Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, is seeking redemption, as the Monegasque driver, despite still leading his teammate in the drivers’ championship, paid heavily for two poor qualifying sessions in Australia and Japan, and he arrives in China eager to regain his form.
The return of China to the calendar after five years will also coincide with the debut of the sprint format 3.0, which will remain unchanged in terms of sessions but will see a reshuffling of slots, with traditional qualifying taking place on Saturday afternoon, while the shootouts will take place immediately after FP1 on Friday.
For the first time, therefore, we will see a qualifying session take place after a race, with the sprint race instead happening on Saturday morning, at 05:00 Italian time.
Speaking on the eve of the weekend, Frederic Vasseur focused heavily on the new format: “We return to the Shanghai circuit after many years, and undoubtedly what we have ahead is a very challenging weekend.”
“We will have to deal with several concurrent factors: the cars of the current generation will be making their debut on this circuit, but we will only have one free practice session before playing for positions on the starting grid for the Sprint.”
“Another big question mark will be related to the conditions of the asphalt, which could be more uneven than we remember. As always with this weekend format, it will be crucial to have worked well at home.”
Ferrari also knows it needs to improve in qualifying, with the SF24 having some trouble getting the tires into the right operating window: “As far as we’re concerned, we also need to improve on managing the preparation lap in qualifying, where we haven’t been perfect recently.”
“The goal, both with Carlos and Charles, is to maximize the potential of the car and bring home a solid result, trying to put pressure on our opponents.”
Source: f1ingenerale
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