Ferrari’s Baku weekend ended with the first podium of the season, conquered by a Charles Leclerc in great shape. The Monegasque was the beacon of the Reds during the Azeri weekend, managing the race in its most crucial stages, especially when Fernando Alonso tried to close the gap that the Prancing Horse driver had built up previously.
It is not only the first podium of the year for Leclerc, but also the first trophy obtained under the direction of Frederic Vasseur, who arrived at the beginning of the season to replace Mattia Binotto. The French manager said he was overall satisfied with how the weekend evolved, especially as he seems to have confirmed the progress that the team had already highlighted in Australia.
In that case, thanks to the accidents that had put the two drivers offside, Ferrari hadn’t been able to materialize, while today important points also arrived for the standings.
“I think overall it’s a good weekend, two pole positions, today’s podium. It’s definitely a step up from the start of the season, after Melbourne we were a bit frustrated because in terms of pace I think we were okay but we hadn’t been able to pick up any points. This weekend went well but it will be a progression to continue in Miami and the following GPs”, explained the Ferrari Team Principal.
“It’s not important what I feel, the important thing is that we’ve taken a step forward. The goal is to win, but at least we did a good job. Today we took a step forward, but now we’re going to Miami and it will be another story”.
Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, 3rd position
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Although the race gave positive indications on a track more suited to the characteristics of the SF-23, Red Bull once again proved uncatchable. Clearly it’s not a surprise, so much so that at times he lapped a second faster than the competition: “We’re not surprised, their pace isn’t just a matter of top speed”.
“It’s true that their top speeds are very high, so we can’t keep them behind even if we’re ahead of the start, but the pace doesn’t just come from that, they’re strong everywhere. In the last part Charles had a good pace, also because from the beginning we had decided to make only one pit stop and we managed well”.
The first substantial updates for the Cavallino single-seater will arrive in the next appointments, which will kick off the process that will serve to cure some weak points of the SF-23. For now, the positive aspect is that we have managed to better understand the car, extracting something more just by changing the set-up.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“I think everyone will bring updates in the next races. I think the performance comes more from the fact that we managed to use the package we have very well and that’s where we improved a lot compared to Jeddah, we worked well in operational terms, we are on the right track,” added Vasseur.
“We’ll start bringing updates to the car starting in Miami and for upcoming events and see how the car reacts to the updates; one thing is the update, it’s another thing to get the full potential of the update.” .
The only disappointing note of the weekend was the performance of Carlos Sainz, who struggled from the early stages due to a lack of confidence in the middle. Having had only one practice session to identify the best set-up for the rest of the weekend didn’t help and to this were added the difficulties that the Spaniard often encountered on a track that doesn’t digest well, as he himself admitted .
The Team Principal of the Reds is aware of the negative weekend for the Madrilenian, but believes that fifth place is still a good result given the circumstances.
“I think we can also see it positively. If this hasn’t been an easy weekend for Carlos and he still finished in fifth position, that’s good. Clearly he has had a confidence issue with the car since the start of the weekend, he also lost the car in qualifying and I think that didn’t help him. In Baku it’s important to have trust and if you don’t have it, it’s very difficult. However, I think that finishing in fifth position given the circumstances is still positive”.
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