F1 | Vasseur: “You have to do the bare minimum to win, not overdo it”

Ferrari continues to be the reference car after the victory obtained in Monza two weeks ago. The pole obtained today in Baku by Charles Leclerc and the third place of Carlos Sainz show how the SF-24 are at ease on certain types of tracks and this is the moment of the Prancing Horse.

Frédéric Vasseur spoke to Sky Sport F1 to comment on the qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that took place this afternoon on the Baku street circuit, aware that today’s result will bring confidence, but must remain in the background. The race is tomorrow and it is tomorrow that the points will be awarded.

Vasseur, what do you think of today’s result? It gives you a lot of confidence for tomorrow’s race…
“I think we have to enjoy the pole. But the important thing is tomorrow’s race. Honestly, the gaps we gave today don’t matter, it’s not like tomorrow they’ll make our rivals start further away. This means we have to focus only on ourselves. We have a competitive pace both on the flying lap and on the race simulation. It’s important to have both cars in front tomorrow but there are also the others. The race will be difficult but we have to focus on ourselves.”

Ferrari has a great chance to win in Baku. Does that worry you?
“I don’t have to be worried, but I have to be focused. It’s true that Charles has a sort of great self-confidence that you can see particularly in Monaco and here in Baku, and the most important thing is to keep it and keep it under control. We mustn’t overdo it, we must do the bare minimum. I think Charles is able to keep everything under control. It will be a long race, but so far so good. We have always had a better race pace than in qualifying, so this is very positive in view of tomorrow.”

With the track so dirty and slower than in previous years, will tyre management be of paramount importance here in Baku too?
“The track is very dirty and has been since the beginning of the weekend. We are 2 seconds slower than last year but the degradation has been good for everyone. I think the strategies will be dictated more by the entry of the Safety Car rather than the tyres.”

Who will be Ferrari’s most dangerous rival in tomorrow’s race?
“I don’t know who the opponent will be tomorrow, because the race pace shows that among the top 4 teams it is very small. We know that our race pace is good, this means that we have to do our job, keeping everything under control”.

Ferrari is 39 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship. Do you still believe in winning the title?
“I don’t know how many points we have behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship. But the most important thing is to focus day by day. We must not make certain mistakes. Mercedes went from two wins to sixth and seventh in the next race. This means it can happen to anyone. We must score good points everywhere. Maybe tomorrow we will have the opportunity to close the gap to Red Bull, but let’s focus on this race and not on anything else.”