Bitter weeks for Ferrari. Since their victory in Monaco, the Italian team has been struggling, and although they were better in Barcelona, they were still surpassed by three teams. Mercedes has caught up with them, and Frédéric Vasseur, the Scuderia director, is not concerned about the situation.
Vasseur assured that the real distances between McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari are not as big as they seem in the Spanish GP. There is maximum equality between these four teams, and small details will make the difference. The head of the Italian team calmed the disappointment of the tifosi, who needed to see their team back on top after the Canadian debacle.
“I’m sure that if we had started P3-P4, we would have been ahead,” he confessed, making it clear that with that result, his team’s vision would have been very different. So, in Maranello, they know that the ‘qualys’ are very important, and it’s the area they must analyze. “If I had to point out one area where we could improve, I would say Saturdays,” he said.
However, Vasseur doesn’t want to set off alarm bells, as there are many factors that create these differences. “We were hundredths behind Mercedes in qualifying, while they were 40 seconds behind us in Monaco, so we should not jump to conclusions,” he said.
Ferrari brought seven new parts to Barcelona, but they warned that it was not an incredible package like the one from Imola. According to the Italian press, the improvements worked well, even better than expected at the factory, but they were not noticed much on the track, possibly because it was not the best layout for the SF-24 or because their rivals also improved.
Vasseur does not consider that McLaren’s developments are better than his own, in an attempt to value the work of his engineers. “In Great Britain last year, McLaren finished 25 seconds ahead of us, so I don’t think their development is much better than ours,” he clarified.
It is clear that equality is maximum, and this raises doubts about the moment a team fails and drops out. However, for now, the Ferrari boss is not worried. “You could say that there was someone better when he was 6 tenths better, but that is no longer the case. Now there will be changes because it also depends on the settings and how you have optimized them. Sometimes you come across a driver who is slower in the first stint and then faster, but I think we are all very even,” he concluded regarding the performance of his car.
Furthermore, Ferrari has something very good – their drivers, who are one of the best duos on the grid. This means that both have to give their all to beat the other and the team benefits from this competition. “Last year, if we recovered, it is also because there was that stimulation between them and this competition helps during the season,” he acknowledged.
However, in case there were any doubts after Leclerc’s words complaining about Sainz, Vasseur concluded by stating that there is a lot of respect between the two. “Outside of the car, they have a very good relationship and good mutual trust. But they are drivers and these types of cases can occur. They will clarify each other,” he said.