Ferrari had been the 2024 season’s second-best group to this point, however did not dwell as much as these expectations eventually weekend’s Shanghai occasion.
Having had no less than one driver on the rostrum throughout the primary 4 races, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz solely certified sixth and seventh respectively, six tenths off Max Verstappen.
The pair managed to maneuver forward of Mercedes’ George Russell and Aston Martin man Fernando Alonso to complete fourth and fifth, however nonetheless fell properly wanting difficult McLaren’s Lando Norris, who convincingly grabbed second.
Crew principal Vasseur mentioned his group “made too many errors” making an attempt to optimise its package deal for the difficult Shanghai circuit and its uncommon tarmac coating, which led to being behind the curve in qualifying.
“I feel it is actually a matter of placing every thing collectively,” Vasseur defined. “We did not have a clear weekend on our aspect, however we made collectively too many errors.
“On this group, should you do not do the right job you will not be in entrance. We’ve a pack with six or seven vehicles in a single tenth in qualifying. That implies that resulting from particulars you possibly can transfer from hero to zero.”
Frederic Vasseur, Crew Principal and Basic Supervisor, Scuderia Ferrari
Picture by: Ferrari
Each Ferraris initially misplaced positions to Russell – and briefly Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg – in the beginning as they struggled for grip, which made their restoration more durable than it wanted to be.
A mid-race security automotive additional difficult issues for Sainz as he had already made his one pitstop for arduous tyres, giving him a tyre-life drawback in opposition to the vehicles round him.
However Vasseur identified each Ferraris struggled extra on the arduous compound than on the mediums they’d began the race on, which is an space to research.
“I feel if we lose one thing at present, it is extra on the final stint. Carlos was a bit unfortunate with the timing of the pitstop, as a result of he pitted three or 4 laps earlier than the protection automotive,” the Frenchman mentioned.
“He was a bit scared to do a really lengthy stint with the final set of arduous and he was a bit conservative at first, however he did very properly to handle the lengthy stint.
“We have been a bit much less performant on the arduous than on the medium. We have been in a superb place on the finish of the stint of medium, however we misplaced floor on the arduous.”
Shanghai’s difficult floor situation, paired to the dash format’s restricted observe time, could have tripped Ferrari up, however Vasseur did not need to name in excuses.
“It is extra a matter of extracting the most effective of what now we have, and we did not do the job this weekend on this,” he admitted.
“It was very obscure the tarmac, additionally because of the format. This will make a distinction on the finish as a result of we’re talking about one tenth, we aren’t talking about half a second.
“However this can’t be an excuse. It is the identical for everyone and a few groups managed it higher than others. We’ve to know if we are able to do a greater job with the preparation.”
Extra reporting by Erwin Jaeggi
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