Ferrari inching closer to victory

Charles Leclerc secured a symbolic podium at Imola. Carlos Sainz finished in fifth position for the Scuderia. With overtaking nearly impossible on similar tire strategies, Ferrari believes it effectively lost the battle for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix during qualifying.

« I think that if we qualify 1-2, we finish 1-2 in the race,” declares Fred Vasseur after the race. Leclerc and Sainz qualified fourth and fifth respectively, gaining one position on the grid due toOscar Piastri’s grid penalty.

However, even though Leclerc ​​regretted an imperfect power setting that cost the Ferrari cars time on the straights, fighting with the Red Bulls and the McLarens is a good thing. Indeed, being just two tenths behind in fourth position suggests that there is truly a battle between these three teams.

Verstappen’s pole time was boosted by Nico Hülkenberg’s slipstream from Haas, which could have prevented a front row lockout for McLaren. This would have narrowed the gap between the three teams to just over a tenth of a second.

Vasseur declares that this tenth gap means that teams will now have to further accelerate their development plans. Bringing the slightest improvement can make a difference as the development pace slows down under the current regulations. What is true is that we are at the point where we will have to accelerate development, said Vasseur.

Ferrari gives itself a few more weekends to achieve performance.

« Imagine that someone could bring an update one race earlier when you have three teams within a tenth, you can go from P5 to P1. This means that we will have to speed up the time to market, it will be crucial. But we also have to be careful because we are now looking for the last hundredths. It’s no longer an improvement of five tenths. This means that you also have to be sure that what you bring works. This will be the key factor for the upcoming races. »

As attention to detail intensifies, this also gives various departments, whether it be the drivers, factory support teams, or strategists, the power to make a difference. « When you have three [teams] within a tenth, every little detail can make the difference,” Vasseur added. « I think the competition will be tight. Car setup will be crucial next week in Monaco, driver performance will be crucial. It’s good news for F1, good news for the championship. You have three teams within seven seconds after seventy laps. That’s less than a tenth per lap. »

Vasseur warned that Ferrari will need more race weekends to assess properly the effectiveness of the complete upgrades brought to Imola. But there was a hint of frustration that everything the Scuderia could bring to the SF-24 has already been matched by McLaren since its revolutionary upgrades in Miami.

« Overall, it’s mixed feelings for me because everything we’ve done as steps forward [on], McLaren has probably done the same as us. We partially compensated for the gap with Red Bull, we are not far off. »