Ferrari secured its first podium of the season in Jeddah because of a powerful efficiency by Charles Leclerc. The race tempo of the quantity 16 SF-25 was convincing from begin to end, usually matching the occasions set by the McLaren vehicles and Max Verstappen’s Purple Bull.
After the 50 laps and the rostrum ceremony, Ferrari crew principal Frédéric Vasseur spoke to Sky Sport F1 to touch upon the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from each angle so far as Ferrari’s weekend was involved.
At present Ferrari confirmed glorious race tempo. So the issue lies in qualifying, primarily?
“It’s clear that if we’re not one or two steps additional forward right this moment, it’s due to qualifying, as a result of within the race we had a really aggressive tempo. Charles was very robust. He managed the tyres for the primary 10 laps as a result of he was in soiled air and knew he must prolong the stint. Then on the Onerous he had McLaren’s tempo. However as we’ve stated, we have to enhance in qualifying, be extra constant all through the weekend, and begin from a greater place.”
Is Leclerc a minimum of partially saving this begin to the season?
“It’s not about saving something, we have to work as a crew to maintain growing and enhancing. We now have weak factors and we all know they’re largely in qualifying, as a result of then within the race we’re at all times a bit stronger. We now have to do a greater job on Saturdays, however it’s a crew effort—it’s not one particular person saving the others. We’re all in the identical boat.”
The SF-25 appears to carry out properly in quick sections and battle within the sluggish ones. Is that the place you’ll want to enhance?
“I’m unsure that’s the difficulty, as a result of right this moment we had been very constant in all forms of corners. Yesterday we struggled quite a bit in turns 1 and a pair of. At present as an alternative we had been the quickest. We have to speak with our drivers to grasp what was achieved in another way in comparison with yesterday. Actually, the tempo was there all through the lap. Additionally, tyre preparation and administration are vital in the case of one-lap struggles.”
Is it solely a tyre subject or have you ever discovered one thing within the setup as properly?
“It’s at all times a matter of many elements, it’s by no means only one particular factor. Whenever you’re three tenths behind, it’s not only one factor that’s off, it’s a collection of things. Efficiency comes from totally different components and we have to seek for each tenth in each space, identical to we did final 12 months. We had been far off in the beginning of final season too, however then we caught up. This podium will assist push us ahead.”
It’s the second race the place you’ve scored extra factors than everybody—besides McLaren. How far off are you from what you anticipated in the beginning of the season?
“We’re behind McLaren by way of factors and it’s fairly a niche. In comparison with Purple Bull and Mercedes, the issue was what occurred in China. However now we stay up for maintain working and pushing as a bunch. The outcomes will come.”
Do you continue to consider within the championship?
“I’m fascinated about Miami. I believe it’s a mistake to deal with the championship. We have to do what we did final 12 months—strategy it race by race to enhance. We all know the automobile has weak spots, it’s clear, we have now to be trustworthy. We have to make an trustworthy evaluation. We now have pretty clear concepts.”
What do you make of Lewis’ race?
“It was tougher for him, ending 30 seconds behind Charles. He struggled in the direction of the tip. He had a good second stint, however in soiled air he struggled. He’s having too many ups and downs—each him and the crew. We must be extra constant and do a greater job in FP3 forward of qualifying. I believe that’s the primary subject. We now have to be on it in each session, not simply within the race or in qualifying.”
Will you go all-in with updates in Miami?
“Miami will probably be troublesome as a result of there’ll solely be one observe session. It’ll be a Dash weekend. So we’ll solely have one hour of observe. We’ll most likely deliver updates in Imola.”
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