F1. China GP Qualifying, Vasseur: “We expected a better result. We have a good race pace, the comeback is feasible” – Formula 1

Frédéric Vasseur comments on the traditional qualifying for the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, which ended with sixth and seventh places for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

April 20, 2024

THEthe weekend of Chinese Grand Prix 2024the fifth Formula 1 round of the season, is proceeding well with the qualifications which will determine the starting grid for tomorrow’s long race. Five years after the last edition, the Circus is back on the track Shanghai with the new Sprint format. The activity began yesterday with the first and last free practice session, followed by the Qualifying Shootout for the Sprint which was held this morning and won by Max Verstappen. Only four hours later, the pilots returned to the attack for the traditional qualifying which ended with Max Verstappen’s pole positionahead of Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso. Disappointment, however, for Scuderia Ferrari. Here are the words of the team principal Frédéric Vasseur.

TOthe end of the timed session of the Chinese Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took sixth and seventh positions respectively starting grid for tomorrow’s long race. Qualifying in Shanghai also confirmed that qualifying, once the flagship of Scuderia Ferrari, has become the Achilles’ heel of the SF-24. The single-seater, in fact, was designed to perform better in race pace, which has fundamentally been lacking over the past few seasons, than in time attack.. Both drivers of the Maranello team gave their best to improve this aspect, especially the preparation of the flying lap, during the week’s break in the simulator, but the track did not reward their efforts. During Q2, Carlos Sainz also lost control of his car exiting the last corner and collided with the barriers, damaging only the front wing. After a small check in the garage, which caused the wrath of Aston Martin by calling the FIA ​​to review the moves of the Red team, the Madrid native returned to the track taking seventh position, behind Charles Leclerc, sixth.

THowever, the mood is not yet down in the Scuderia garage. The race pace demonstrated this morning during the Sprint gives Frédéric Vasseur hope, convinced that a comeback tomorrow is absolutely within the team’s reach. “We expected a better result. Lots of inconsistency for everyone between one session and another” commented the team principal to Sky at the end of qualifying. “In the Sprint we had a better pace and this will help us in the race tomorrow. We lost a lot of time between turns 1 and 3. We need to understand why it went like this in qualifying and not in the Sprint and we need to clarify this. If the podium is possible? The race will be long, everyone had a fair amount of degradation and tomorrow will be different because everyone will have their own strategy. Tomorrow we can recover. We’ll see if we sacrificed too much in qualifying. Last year we were fast in qualifying and not in the race, this year is different. Tomorrow it will be important to keep an eye on tire degradation.”

Frédéric Vasseur, between the 100 km race and the qualifications, also had to manage a incandescent climate in the Scuderia garagestriggered by melee between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, which ended with almost contact between the two at the end of the Sprint. The Monegasque’s complaints towards the Madrilenian must have certainly worried the team principal the most. “We need to talk about it. He fights more with me than with others”. The situation was then immediately resolved with the post-race briefing.