Well done Ollie
Qualifying for the Saudi Arabian GP was very special Ferrari. In fact, the Maranello team had to field an unprecedented line-up of drivers with the 18 year old Ollie Bearman who had to replace Carlos Sainz at the last moment, appendicitis surgery. With only FP3 contested behind him, the Englishman did his best, but was unable to get into Q3 and was beaten by Lewis Hamilton by just three hundredths. Charles Leclerc instead he once again gave Max Verstappen a hard time, however surrendering to the supremacy of the Dutchman and 'settling' for the front row with the second best time of the day.
“Ollie had a fantastic performance today – declared Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, commenting on the qualifications to the microphones of Sky Sports F1 – we called him at 2pm today and told him he had to get in the car. He did PL3 as his first F1 session in Jeddah and did a great job overall. He missed Q3 by a couple of cents. He had an excellent session: this morning we focused on the various starting procedures, pit stops and so on and he managed everything very well. Tomorrow will be another challenge, but today went well.”.
Leclerc 2nd, but that's not enough
The French manager then focused on the good session run by Leclerc, who arrived three tenths from pole position: “Charles did a great preparation lap on the last attempt and a great fast lap. It wasn't enough to beat Max but we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Yesterday we had a good pace, but we have to focus on ourselves without thinking about others. If Charles was a little angry it's because second place isn't enough for him and I agree with him”. There is confidence in the Maranello team race pace of the SF-24judged competitive also to be able to challenge the elusive Red Bulls.
Watch your race pace
“In the end it's the pace that counts and yesterday we had a good race pace. The most important thing is to focus on ourselves and have a good strategy because in Jeddah there can be many Safety Cars and red flags, so you have to be opportunistic at the right moments. We knew it would be a tough qualifying – Vasseur further explained – it was quite difficult to put together a lap with a set of new tires because you have to get them up to temperature and sometimes it's easier with the used softs. If we look at yesterday's race simulation there is the feeling that we are not too far away [dalla Red Bull]. 60 laps is a lot, but it's a question of tenths and we need to take those small steps that we were able to take last year. In 2023 we were a second apart at the start and in the end we managed to fight with them on a few occasions. This year we are starting from a better condition. We have to keep pushing and the team is very motivated“.
Best wishes Carlos
Finally by the number one on the red pit wall a thought could not be missing for Carlos Sainzin the hope of his rapid recovery: “Carlos' operation was at the beginning of the afternoon and I know everything went well, but it's too early to draw up a recovery plan. We will talk to the surgeon at the beginning of next week and then we will make a decision, but the most important thing is that he is well, without rushing things. I would be happy to have him back as soon as possible, but the most important thing is Carlos, not the race.”.
#Vasseur #Bearman #Charles #angry #Understandable
