Judgment is suspended, at least until tomorrow afternoon. Frédéric Vasseur is satisfied with the performance obtained today in qualifying by Charles Leclerc, author of an unexpected front row at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last act of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship.
Ferrari is chasing second place in the Constructors’ World Championship, with Mercedes just 4 points ahead. For this reason, the French manager decided not to pass judgment on his first season at the helm of GeS, but in his interview with Sky Sport F1 he touched on many other interesting points of the present and near future.
How did your first year at Ferrari as team principal go?
“We’ll see how my first year at Ferrari was tomorrow, after the final result. We suffered at the beginning because the expectations were too high. But in the last races we came back well, we got pole and front rows. But now we have to closing the gap with the Red Bulls and it’s a good motivation for everyone in view of 2024.”
“We already understood before Bahrain that the season would start on an uphill climb. Even when Charles tested the car on the simulator, he was quite shocked. We reacted step by step. We overcame difficult moments, because at the halfway point of the championship we were 70 points down points from Mercedes, but then we reacted well and got back in the lead.”
It seems that Leclerc has returned to driving very well in this final part of the season…
“Leclerc is driving well now. In the second part of the season he had a difficult period but now he is doing very well. He had some unlucky episodes, but he is doing very well, he reacted very well and this is also very important for the team. Also for Carlos, because we can see that Charles reacted well even after Carlos’ victory and this reaction did the team a lot of good.”
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
Ferrari had started the season with tire degradation problems. But now things seem to have improved quite a bit…
“We haven’t always had problems with degradation per se. In the sense that sometimes you have a problem with pace and you have to push a lot harder to try to reach certain performances and you use the tires much more than you would like. When you go well, however, it’s much easier to manage the tires and make them last longer. It’s also true that step by step we’ve helped the riders manage the tires better. It’s a matter of details.”
“When there is such a tight qualifying like today you can even be eliminated by a tenth. We also saw it with Hamilton. In these conditions every little detail is crucial. It is crucial for the pace, the tire management and the choices for the weekend It’s always a question of details. You shouldn’t imagine that Red Bull has a magic wand with which it can dominate. It’s small details in every aspect and that’s where we need to catch up.”
What is the slide you have in mind from your first season in Maranello?
“Definitely the important thing, and it satisfied me a lot, there is a much greater passion than in any other place. We must not fight it, we must try to have more heights, be more consistent. We must always maintain calm, discipline and concentration on our work. We know there is a big gap to fill, but we are on the right path and this is positive.”
“The photograph that is in my heart is Monza. It is something bigger than the victory in Singapore and I still have the photo in the background of my computer. Of course, Singapore was my first victory with Ferrari, but Monza was magical” .
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Do you think degradation could be a factor for tomorrow’s race?
“This is a strange weekend. Free practice 1 and 3 are held in different conditions compared to 2 and Qualifying and the race. We did well today when night fell, so we hope to do well tomorrow too, when we race in the same conditions. Here the degradation is medium-high and our stints will have to be quite long even with the Medium tyres.”
How important would it be for Ferrari to achieve second place in the Constructors’ World Championship?
“We set ourselves an objective over the course of the season and from the beginning it was clear that the titles were in the hands of Red Bull. From the first sector of Bahrain we knew it would be tough, but the reaction was good and we recovered a lot of points on Mercedes. And that became our objective. I remember that after Silverstone some comments saw us fighting for fifth place in the Constructors’ World Championship, but we were always focused on Mercedes and second place. The most important thing, however, will be tomorrow, we have to finish well and then start well in 2024.”
Will it be possible to win tomorrow?
“It is always possible to win and tomorrow it will be possible too, but for us the most important thing will be to score 4 points more than Mercedes.”
How happy are you to start a season that will be your first season with Ferrari in all respects?
“I’m happy, yes, but first we need to end this season well and then think about the next one. Honestly, the dynamic we have today is encouraging and it’s also the best motivation. We’ve had difficult moments, but now in this last part of the season everyone has a smile on their faces in hospitality and it’s the best feeling you can have.”
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