The final result
Two-sided qualifying for Ferrari on the Jeddah street circuit, indicated on the eve as more suited to the characteristics of the Red compared to the previous one of Sakhir. Confirmation also came in the hunt for pole position, with the 4th place obtained by Carlos Sainz and with the 2nd of Charles Leclercwhich must however be triggered from twelfth box of the grid due to the ten position penalty for replacing the control unit. A result which, beyond the placement in the grid, did not totally satisfy the Monegasque, who underlined the still too large gap that divides the Red Bull from the Red Bull.
The problems of the weekend
A comment brought to the attention of the team principal Frederic Vasseurwho acknowledged the competitive spirit of his driver in these words, underlining the pros and cons in view of tomorrow’s race: “Charles always wants more, it’s one of his characteristics, but we are one tenth from Perez – explained to Sky Sports F1 – but now we have to focus on the race, because points are made on Sunday. We learned this lesson from Bahrain, Carlos will start from 4th on the grid, so he will have a good opportunity. In terms of race pace, we are in a good position compared to Sakhir, and we need to build our weekend on this. This weekend we had difficulties not so much in building our weekend as in approaching it from a strategic point of view. We will obviously discuss it with the riders on how they want to handle it, it’s always part of the game.”
The advantages of Jeddah
In addition, Vasseur underlined the advantages of a track like the Saudi one, more favorable to Ferrari but not free from other risks: “In Jeddah the grip is much higher and different than in Bahrain, and there will be much less degradation – added the French manager – for various reasons we find ourselves in one much more favorable situation, but the most important thing is the race, and not free practice or qualifying. If we manage to have the same pace as on Friday, surely the race will go well. Gedda is a particular track, because it’s very easy to overtake but at the same time you have to deal with the DRS, and therefore you have to find the right strategy even with the pit stops”.
Don’t think about others
In conclusion, Vasseur also clarified what were the most difficult challenges for Sainz to face in qualifying, even more after the comments made by the Spaniard at the end of the tests. At the same time, the Prancing Horse team principal underlined the need to concentrate on one’s own strengths, without thinking too much about the opponents: “Carlos’ main problem is that he had to use the second set in Q1and that was the main mistake, because then we only had one set left in Q3 – He admitted – Q2 didn’t go bad, but in Q3 he made a small mistake during the lap with only one set available, and we are so close that with an error can be paid with 3-4 positions. Overall the pace wasn’t bad for Carlos, it was just a management problem during qualifying. I can’t know what will happen tomorrow, because sometimes you are convinced that the race can be chaotic and in the end nothing happens. We will have to be opportunists, we have all the compounds available and we will need to have some flexibility during the race. We’ll see what happens, but let’s stay focused on ourselves. Without a doubt it won’t be the easiest mission of our weekend to contain Verstappen’s comeback, but the most important thing is to focus on ourselves, without thinking about Max, Perez or anyone else. We are fighting with everyone, and we have to bring home the result”.
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