F1 | Vasseur: “Happy with the updates. The riders are at ease”

A satisfied Frédéric Vasseur appeared on Sky Sport’s microphones to comment on the first two free practice sessions of the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Ferrari team principal took note of the double best time set in both sessions by Charles Leclerc, but above all of an excellent feeling for both drivers with the SF-24s equipped with the updates that had debuted during the filming day held by the Scuderia last weekend in Fiorano.

The times are there both on the flying lap and on the race pace. But Vasseur uses lead feet and underlines how both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen will be in the game both to obtain pole and to win Sunday’s grand prix.

“We had two good sessions today, even though there are rivals who are strong. Norris, for example, who was strong even though he didn’t manage to set his fastest lap, but he was competitive. We have to stay focused on our work.”

McLaren differentiated the work with the compounds between its drivers during Free Practice 2. Instead you continue to do the same thing with both…
“We are used to working with riders who work on the same compound. Since the beginning of the year, but also last year, we have carried out the same program. In this way we can compare the work we do also through the petrol that we use on the two cars”.

What is the first feedback regarding the innovations you have brought here to Imola?
“Regarding the news we are happy, but we are still in the early stages. It’s not about a couple of seconds gained, but about small details. So far everything is fine. We haven’t had any problems. I don’t think the most important point is the performance, as much as the riders were in control of the situation. Maybe even a little more than our rivals and that’s positive for this weekend, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Leclerc was strong straight away. An excellent sign ahead of this weekend…
“Leclerc’s feeling with the car was good from the first lap of free practice. He had excellent sensations regarding the balance. This morning there was a lot of wind 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. Norris was also in a good position and it will certainly be a good fight.”

Will it be a fight between Ferrari and McLaren tomorrow?
“In the fight for pole it will be us against McLaren, but also Max. In Free Practice 1 Max was very fast in the first sector, then he slipped more. But I’m sure they will be able to put everything together this evening. It will be a very close battle in this weekend, but it was also like this in the last two races.”

Why did you replace the power unit on Leclerc’s Ferrari? It is the third of the season and the second was introduced 2 weeks ago in Miami…
“We changed Leclerc’s power unit because we had some doubts. We didn’t want to take any risks, also because we brought some updates here and we didn’t want the car to stop over the weekend. We will introduce power unit 2 again not next week , but in Canada”.

Is Imola an indicative track for getting important responses from the car? If you do well here, are you confident that you can be competitive on most of the tracks?
“It’s not so much important to do well here for the general performance of the car, as the fact that we are in Italy and this makes it even more important to get a good result for the team, the drivers and myself. But I don’t think Imola is a more relevant than others. However, it is good for the team and we can try to maintain this motivation.”