By Carlo Platella
Ferrari closes the Austrian Grand Prix with Carlos Sainz’s return to the podium, but with the awareness of having missed an opportunity seized instead by Mercedes. The Reds continue to suffer stuttering issues returned with updates introduced in Spain, a situation which however does not worry Frederic Vasseur. The Team Principal is instead anxiously awaiting the Silverstone round, with the belief that Ferrari will be able to solve the problems of the SF-24.
Solvable bouncing
Frederic Vasseur celebrates the progress made by Cavallino during the Austrian weekend: “We changed the car a lot between the morning and the afternoon of Saturday. The situation has improved”the Team Principal tells the press present at the circuit, including FormulaPassionand adds: “I’m not pessimistic about performance. We’re miles away from Max in the race, but I have a feeling there’s more we can extract.”
Despite the return of bouncing on the SF-24, Vasseur does not appear worried ahead of the Silverstone stage, a track dominated by high-speed corners: “It was already much better yesterday afternoon, it depends on the set-up. Also when you bring an update, especially now that they are less effective than in the past, there are repercussions on the set-up and it can take a weekend or two to get to the bottom of it. Free practice at Silverstone will be a big helpweather permitting”. Also new parts will be coming to the car soon: “We have updates in the works,” announces the Team Principal.
Faced with Ferrari’s steps backwards in the hierarchy despite the arrival of updates that are still absent from its rivals, the number one of the Prancing Horse specifies: “It’s not that if you don’t see new pieces then it means they aren’t developing. What you see from the outside is just the skin of the car. Furthermore, what we declare to the Federation are exclusively the aerodynamic surfaces. If they didn’t bring aerodynamic innovations it doesn’t mean they haven’t developed”.
The Austrian weekend
Commenting on the weekend at the Red Bull Ring, Vasseur reveals a background story on Charles Leclerc’s final qualifying lap, whose mistake prevented greater potential from being realised: “Yesterday in turn 4 We had a 1.5 tenth advantage over Norris. If we had closed the loop, which I am aware needs to be done, the situation would have been completely different.”
The Prancing Horse was however close to fighting for the victory with Carlos Sainz after the clash between Norris and Verstappen, but several incidents prevented the Spaniard’s comeback: “We were convinced that we would have a rubber advantage at the end and that we would have been able to get back to Russell. Unfortunately for us he had no traffic, while at the end of the second stint we encountered some backmarkers who were on new tyres”. Despite a weekend lacking in satisfaction, Vasseur does not change his mind from previous appointments: “My comment remains the same after Monaco. We must not change the team’s approach after just one weekend, positive or negative. Sometimes we were faster than everyone, sometimes we were at Max’s level and sometimes we were below, like we were at the beginning of this weekend. Our reaction, however, was positive.”
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