Looking at the trend of the weekend at Ferrari, the deficit that could be observed in qualifying is not surprising on the one hand, but on the other it highlights the need to take steps forward. After qualifying for the Austrian GP, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur analyzed a difficult Saturday for the red one. Compared to the results of the sprint qualifying, however, he commented on how Ferrari had nevertheless progressed and said he was confident in view of the main race after having observed in the Sprint, albeit to a limited extent, the focal points to focus on. Vasseur then relegated the car to bouncing, one of the causes of the difficulties that have arisen so far this weekend at the Red Bull Ring. In the race, Sainz and Leclerc will start from the fourth and sixth place on the grid respectively.
Vasseur: “We are in a better condition than yesterday”
“Compared to yesterday we have certainly made a small step forward,” Vasseur said at the end of the qualification. “It’s certainly not enough because we wanted to be a little further forward on the grid but overall I think we’ve made progress.” As Leclerc himself admitted, the mistakes in the decisive lap of Q3 compromised the qualification from the number 16 pit side. Despite the difficulties, the Ferrari team principal wanted to underline how the search for the limit is a positive indicator of the steps taken. “Charles was doing a good lap before he locked up at Turn 4, but up until that point he was much faster than his previous attempt. This means it was a good lap, then clearly the aim is to finish the lap but probably we are in a better condition than yesterday.” After a subdued start to the weekend, the Cavallino can only look to the GP. From this perspective Vasseur underlined the need to stay in battle with others, to benefit from the DRS effect. “We saw today that there is a kind of DRS train and if you get into it in the right way you can stay in it. I imagine there will be a lot of battle on the first lap.” Thus the team principal, who stated that he does not lose faith. “Clearly the race is different to the sprint, because strategies and pit stops also come into play. But it’s clear that the DRS effect has a huge effect, we’re talking about 6 tenths per lap and that’s the gap between second and tenth place I think.”
Vasseur: “We suffered from the bouncing problem in high-speed corners”
Frédéric Vasseur then commented on the race as well the brake problem experienced by Leclerc and Sainz during the 100km race. “We have definitely solved the problem but I think everyone had this problem this morning because once you get on the train everything overheats a bit and you have to manage. Everyone this morning was managing the pace with the lift and coast.” The bouncing of the car was instead a problem that arose throughout the entire weekend at Ferrari, a phenomenon that proved to be significantly penalizing in terms of the behavior of the SF-24 on the flying lap. “We probably had a little more bouncing than expected and that hurt the pilots.” A behavior that is amplified in medium-high speed corners, on which you will have to work to keep up with your opponents. “It was clear in the high-speed corners, specifically yesterday between Turn 7 and Turn 10.” Vasseur specified how work was done in this direction inside the garage between Friday and Saturday, even though it is an effort that has not yet been fully resolved. “Today we fixed those things compared to Norris at least, it’s not enough obviously. Turns 9 and 10 are better, we still need to improve on turns 6-7, but step by step we are getting closer.”
