F1 | Vasseur: “The negative weekend doesn’t change our approach”

Ferrari returns from Canada with a zero which hurts morale more than the standings, especially since it came after a weekend as protagonist as the one in Monaco. While Mercedes and McLaren tried to snatch the victory from Red Bull, without however managing to make that little extra leap to beat a Max Verstappen capable of making the most of every opportunity presented to him, both in Montreal and in Imola, the Rossa encountered a weekend that became significantly complicated starting on Saturday.

The sixth row achieved in qualifying weighed on the Cavallino’s ambitions, but the problems experienced in the race further aggravated the situation, with a double retirement that made people think of a (deep) red GP.

Starting so far back inevitably meant being stuck in traffic in the first part of the race, in particular with Carlos Sainz, who also lost a few positions at the start, slipping well beyond the initial twelfth position, making it difficult to recover. Added to this were also two contacts, the first of which caused a piece to temporarily get stuck in the floor, as also noted in the pits by the engineers, while the second with Alex Albon put an end to his race. The problem with the Power Unit on Charles Leclerc’s car also took away the Red Car’s best hope of at least staying in the points and avoiding ending the Grand Prix empty-handed.

Clearly, however, even if the Monegasque had managed to climb back into the top ten, it would have been a way to limit the damage, but not the result that Ferrari was hoping for. Attention is more focused on the reasons why the SF-24 failed to express itself at the hoped-for levels: the anonymous performance does not raise an alarm bell, but it is a clear indication that there is still work to be done, not only to beat Red Bull, but also to find consistency against a very solid McLaren, which seemed to be the best compromise on circuits that highlighted the RB20’s weaknesses.

A setback that does not represent the absolute value of the Italian single-seater, but it is clear that something more was expected from the Canadian weekend, even after a Friday in which the drivers said they were satisfied and offered positive comments on the potential of the car. However, the first day of practice only half told a story, not only in terms of what then occurred over the rest of the weekend, but also in terms of the track conditions. With the asphalt still damp, the cars had lapped times well above those on Saturday and even on the intermediates the track tended more towards dry than wet, heating up the tire more quickly. Strange conditions that didn’t really recur on Saturday, the day that put Ferrari’s hopes in crisis.

Although it has points in common with Monte Carlo, the Montréal circuit also has many differences. In the Principality there are many slow corners where the qualities in terms of mechanical grip and stability on bumps make the difference, while in Canada the balance shifts more towards the aerodynamic factor. However, these are still low to medium speed corners, with no very fast corners that can put energy into the tyres. It is no coincidence that in Montreal we talk about graining, because the external surface with the many phases of traction tends to heat up before the casing, but on the flying lap the topic of warm-up becomes fundamental.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

On Saturday, the Red team struggled to turn on the tires despite the increase in asphalt temperatures, without ever reaching the times that the teams had predicted on the eve of the weekend: it was assumed that it could drop to between 1:11.7 and 1:12 :00 and indeed that was the case, but not for Ferrari.

The new asphalt, very smooth, so much so that it partially removed even part of the bumps that characterized Montreal, especially in the second sector, perhaps didn’t help, but it wasn’t such a central element in the examination. Furthermore, although it is true that the Canadian weekend brings to mind the difficulties of China, where the surface layer of the asphalt had been revised for the return of F1 after several years of absence, the two events have little in common. Shanghai also has many high-speed corners in which to warm up the tyres, but the smooth asphalt and the low temperatures had above all contributed to a different management of the balance and the limiting axis, penalizing the setup of the Red. Aspects which, however, did not arise in the same way in Montreal.

The difficulty of the SF-24 in extracting the best from the tires on a single lap is not new, but rather a well-known theme throughout this season, albeit at the start of the championship, with a McLaren further away, in most cases the drivers they still managed to achieve a good result. Now, with MCL38 increasingly competitive, an extra step is needed. This is also why a setback does not represent an alarm bell at maximum volume, but rather the confirmation that, when the car is unable to work in its ideal window, there is still work to be done with future updates . Adding load helps, but it’s not always the answer to all problems.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Director, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Ferrari

Vasseur said the team had a better idea of ​​why it was unable to find speed in the humid, low-grip conditions, and was more optimistic about Sunday’s race pace, where long-distance management matters most.

“The pace was good on Friday. The conditions were difficult on Saturday and a couple of teams had the same problem as us, but we were quite confident for the race. The problems at the start… everything went wrong and I hope that now we have put together all the misfortunes of the season in the same weekend”, said the Cavallino Team Principal.

“If it was the most difficult weekend? I don’t know, but it wasn’t the best. “Sometimes you have the feeling that everything is going wrong and is against us, but we don’t change our approach. We are working as a team with the riders through good and bad times and will maintain the same approach going forward. I’m not bothered by this kind of weekend at all, it is what it is.”