Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari
After a positive beginning for Ferrari’s weekend in Imola, the upgrades brought to the Italian track seemed to be working well for the team. Unfortunately, come race day, The Maranello team only managed to be the third fastest car on track. Team principal Fred Vasseur says Ferrari “must wait a few races before reaping the benefits.”
Despite fans and media coming into the race week with high hopes from the large upgrade package, many inside the team down played the potential impact. Including Fred Vasseur and Carlos Sainz. Sainz, who finished 5th, mentions ‘issues with deployment’ affecting his race on Sunday.
Vasseur clarified, “We made a step forward, but McLaren probably did the same. We compensated, I believe, partly for a gap with Red Bull, and we are not far off.” The Frenchman also said that if there is something missing with the Ferrari, it’s in Qualifying.
A similar sentiment that Charles Leclerc shared, telling Sky Sports,“McLaren and Red Bull are doing something special with the launch with their engine and they are gaining all of it [time] just there.”
As the front of the pack gets closer, it’s important for Ferrari to continue to take steps forward. Vasseur placed an emphasis on ‘speeding up the process’ of the upgrades.
“We are chasing down to the last hundredth. It’s no longer about a five-tenths update.”
Vasseur thinks it will take a few races until the potential of the SF-24 is shown, “There will be a better understanding of the evolutionary package as soon as we encounter tracks with different types of corners, with different speeds and different minimum speeds. It should also be noted that tire management and setup are probably much more important than the update itself.“
Finally, he made the benefit of the closeness clear. “It’s not often you have six or potentially eight cars that can win a race. This means that when you’re not in form, you can go from first to eighth position.“
That’s why Vasseur advises fans to be patient and wait a few races before judging the potential of the Ferrari. Qualifying will be crucial again at Monaco next week because of the challenge of overtaking. Moreover, given that it is Charles Leclerc’s home race, the team undoubtedly has high hopes for a win.
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