The team principal of Ferrari, Fred Vasseur, discussed where his team stands after the final day of pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit.
The pre-season testing in Bahrain finished on Friday, the 23rd, and now the next big thing to look forward to is the first race of the season, which takes place less than one week from the time of publishing this article.
While the true pace of every single team is still not clear, the pre-season tests gave us some idea both from track and from the reactions of members of each team. Reflecting on the three days of testing, Fred Vasseur told F1TV:
"With the consistency and the race pace, the degradation that we had yesterday for the longest stint was on another planet compared to last year."
Ferrari expected to start the most recent season as the title contender, but after the testing in Bahrain, it was clear to the Italian team that it wouldn't be the case.
This year, Scuderia came much more humble to Bahrain, and perhaps it could be the other way around. The team principal continued:
"At least on this, we've made a step, but now it is not just a matter of being consistent, but fast. We know that we always have to pay attention to the conclusions after the test."
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz recorded the fastest lap of the whole testing, which was, in fact, only two-tenths slower than the best qualifying time of Max Verstappen from the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. However, Vasseur said:
"If you take the classifications from last year, Day 2 or Day 3, I think it has nothing to do with the classification of the Saturday of the race [weekend]."
Most drivers, including Charles Leclerc, suggested they believe Red Bull will start the season comfortably ahead, but Ferrari also showed a very good pace. The team principal added:
"The most important thing is to trust the guys because their feedback was positive, and we have seen a lot of development for sure. I think Red Bull is still ahead, but let's continue to push and see where we will be next week."
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