Ferrari Team Principal With 'Mixed Feelings' Believes To Have 'Good Opportunity'

Tuesday, 05 March 2024 at 09:00

Fred Vasseur discussed Ferrari's results after the first race of the 2024 season at Bahrain International Circuit.

Scuderia Ferrari F1 drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc took P3 and P4 during the season's first race. On the one hand, it seems the Italian team made the best progress of all teams behind Red Bull.

On the other hand, the Prancing Horse is in F1 to compete for the title, and Sainz crossed the finish line more than 20 seconds behind Max Verstappen, which is a considerable gap. Fred Vasseur told the media after the race:

"You can say, a bit of a mixed feeling after the race for sure. The positive is that we were able to do the pole position yesterday with the fastest lap of the session.

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Charles Leclerc scored the fastest lap of the qualifying session on Friday ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix race. However, it was in Q2, and he couldn't repeat the same lap in Q3. The team principal continued:

"And perhaps that we compensated 50% of the gap with Red Bull in the race, compared to one year ago, because then we were at 50-something seconds in the race."

In 2023, Ferrari started the season far behind the team from Milton Keynes, but it was also the only team, except for Red Bull, that won at least one race (Singapore Grand Prix).

"But if you compare with last year, and the recovery that we had during the season, the fact that we are able to fight with them in the last part, I think we have a good opportunity."

Considering Ferrari started 50 seconds behind Red Bull last year and almost matched the team in the final few races, the potential seems to be there for 2024. Vasseur added:

"It's also a much better base to develop this year. I think the car is much easier for them to feel the car, from where we are weak and where we can improve. Last year it was much more difficult to have a good read on the car."