F1 | Vasseur: “70% of the gap to Verstappen is between turns 1 and 3”

Ferrari had other expectations for qualifying in Shanghai and team principal Frederic Vasseur confirmed it, although perhaps it wasn't even necessary, given that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will only field the SF-24s in sixth and seventh position. The shame, if anything, is that from a race perspective the performances seem interesting, so the risk is that we have wasted a good opportunity.

“Not really,” Vasseur told Sky Sport F1 when asked if he was satisfied. “It was a chaotic session and we honestly expected a better result, but we struggled a lot. There was little consistency for everyone from one session to the next, but we struggled too much today. At least this morning we had a good pace, so Let's hope we can recover tomorrow.”

When asked what went wrong, he explained: “We lost a lot between Turn 1 and Turn 3, more than the gap we have from the front row, because then the rest of the lap was good. We need to understand why it went like this in qualifying, because it was absolutely not like that in the Sprint, we were in good condition in that part of the track. I don't know if it's a question of preparation or the launch lap, we need to understand it, because the gap to Verstappen is 70%. It's there.”

Despite this, just like his drivers, the Cavallino team principal is not giving up on the possibility of trying to secure at least a podium placement in Shanghai. Also because elements such as strategy and management of tire degradation will aid the comeback.

“The race will be long and everyone had a fair amount of degradation, while we were in good condition at the end of the Sprint. Unfortunately it was very difficult to overtake because there was a sort of train of cars all with DRS. Tomorrow, however, it will be different in the long race, because you can play with the strategy to have a clear track in front and ride in clean air. It wasn't the result we expected, but we can recover tomorrow.”

In light of today's result, the doubt is that perhaps an overly conservative setting choice may not have been made, as suggested by Leclerc: “We'll see this tomorrow. We're always scoring points on Sunday, while I remember that last year sometimes we were going strong on Saturday and struggled in the race. We made a good improvement from this point of view, so I think we can recover tomorrow, because the degradation will be fundamental: if we manage to control it well I think we will have the opportunity to get back on the podium.”

Today there was also a lot of talk about the contact that occurred at the end of the Sprint between Leclerc and Sainz, for which however the Spaniard immediately apologised. When asked if there were any particular indications for tomorrow, Vasseur started with a joke: “To finish the race and bring home some points (laughs). It went well this morning, we've already clarified. I think that Carlos was a little upset after the fight with Alonso, but everything is under control.”