F1 | Vasseur: “We paid for the qualification, we expected more”

Going back a few days, Ferrari looked at the Shanghai weekend with a certain optimism, because on paper the layout of the Chinese track should have come closer to the strengths of the SF-24 compared to Suzuka.

However, since Friday something hasn't worked and the Red has struggled to extract a potential that the Cavallino team believed was really there, as was seen today in a race from which Vasseur admitted that something more was expected.

The sprint qualifying was negatively affected by the rain, with a starting position far from the front rows which actually compromised the short race. Saturday's qualifying, this time dry, however cast a further shadow on the weekend.

Starting from sixth and seventh position, behind McLaren and Aston Martin, would clearly have forced another comeback, which would be difficult to materialise. Despite the result, as confirmed by the drivers and the Team Principal after qualifying, there was optimism in this case too, because the SF-24 was thought to have better long-distance pace than its rivals.

However, already at the start the scenarios became complicated. A very wide trajectory from Leclerc into Turn 1 also pushed Sainz out onto the dirt, causing them both to lose position not only to George Russell, but also forcing the Monegasque to have to battle with Nico Hulkenberg. If initially there were three cars in front to aim for the podium, when this happened at the start it complicated the mission even more, leaving four cars to overtake.

It took both Leclerc and Sainz several laps to overtake Russell: by that point, however, Norris had already made his move on Alonso, extending the lead for the podium. A theme that the Red Team Principal also wanted to underline at the end of the race to the Sky Sport microphones.

“First of all, we started from sixth and seventh place, we should have done a better job in qualifying. Then we had a good first stint on the mediums. There was a good conservative approach in tire management and at that stage we were in a good position, then it was difficult to warm up the tires and we suffered throughout the stint.”

“But it's not a question of half a second, but of a tenth or a tenth and a half. We need to understand why we were better with the medium tire and struggled with the hard. Overall the real problem was starting from sixth and seventh place, because then it's difficult to recover, you end up in dirty air, you lose ground. We have to pay attention to qualifying, for sure.”

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

However, the issue of qualification only weighed up to a certain point. Realistically, Ferrari had started with the idea of ​​focusing on two stops, so much so that Charles Leclerc had also kept two new sets of medium tyres, using one used for the sprint. However, with the traffic in the first laps, the Red team changed its race tactics, focusing on Plan D, which is the only stop to reach the end.

McLaren was able to read the situation well, copying the strategy of the Prancing Horse team, which led them to be in the same situation when the Safety Car came out: Norris second on the hard, Leclerc immediately behind him with the same compound. Even with the situation cleared, the Monegasque was unable to keep up with the Briton, inevitably losing the position to Sergio Perez.

“Charles had a strange race, because he started to do the two stops, then he only made one stop, so he was there in the middle between deciding between pushing and being conservative and in the end we paid the price. We had a good pace on Saturday, we were not far from Red Bull, but we need to understand why today went like this.”

“I think the pace yesterday in the sprint was a little bit better than Norris. Today we did the same race as Perez and we were not far from Norris. They probably had a better interpretation of the hard, while with the mediums we had a good stint instead, because we were a little conservative at the beginning, then we managed to recover.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

What is certain is that Ferrari expected something more, particularly from the point of view of the pace: “I don't know if we expected more in terms of position because we started from the back on the grid, but we expected something more from the pace. Clearly we lacked pace today and we need to understand why in order to make progress for the next race.”

As Vasseur pointed out, this is not a question of updates. Clearly some technical innovations would help, but this weekend not even McLaren brought substantial innovations: on the contrary, the first package from the Woking team should only arrive in Miami, and then be completed in Imola depending on the parts available. Ferrari is also working behind the scenes to bring new elements to give new life to the SF-24, but this weekend the feeling is that the team was not able to extract the maximum, perhaps caught off guard by the temperatures and the asphalt.

Furthermore, it is interesting to underline that on Friday in free practice Ferrari had only tested the soft tyre, while McLaren had accumulated kilometers on the hard.

“In the factory the guys are working day and night to bring updates for the next races. I can't ask for more, we have already anticipated a few small pieces and we are pushing like crazy. You also have to consider that even in sprint events it's not easy to bring something new because you only have one free practice session.”

“So we didn't change our plan. But I think the problem this weekend is not a question of updates, but more a question of not being able to fully extract the car's potential. We need to do a better job in qualifying and I don't think the front row was out of our reach. At that point it would have been a very different race,” added Vasseur.