After their disappointing start to the season in Melbourne, Ferrari appear to have taken a step forward in performance with Lewis Hamilton charging to pole and Charles Leclerc setting the fourth-fastest time in qualifying for the F1 Chinese GP Sprint race, with Fred Vasseur also giving his reaction. The Brit’s benchmark of 1:30.849 is now also a new lap record around the Shanghai International Circuit.
During the only practice session of the weekend earlier in the day, Leclerc managed to put his SF-25 in P2 ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. Meanwhile, Hamilton built on his confidence in the car after finishing FP1 in fourth place and executed a stunning lap to secure his first Sprint pole in red.
With the McLaren drivers—who were clear favourites to lock out the front row—under-delivering in Sprint qualifying, it remains to be seen whether Ferrari can hold on to their advantage and convert the pole to victory with Hamilton at the F1 Chinese GP Sprint race tomorrow.
Hamilton proud after surprise pole
Speaking afterwards, Hamilton admitted that he was proud to claim the pole position despite not anticipating the jump in performance after FP1.
At the same time, the seven-time world champion commended Ferrari for the set-up changes they had made ahead of the Sprint qualifying session at the F1 Chinese GP and added that they were pleased to extract more lap time from the SF-25 after struggling over a single lap in Melbourne.
“I mean, firstly I want to say a big thank you to this amazing crowd we have here today. I didn’t expect that result, but so, so happy and so proud.
“Obviously, the last race was a disaster for us, and clearly we knew that there was more performance in the car, but we just weren’t able to extract it.
“So to come here to a track that I love, Shanghai, beautiful place, and the weather’s been amazing, and the car really came alive from lap 1.
“We made some great changes. The team did a fantastic job through the break to get the car ready, and yeah, I’m a bit in shock.
“I can’t believe it actually; we got a pole in the sprint. Obviously it’s not the main race, so we’ve got work to do for tomorrow, but this puts us in good stead for the race.”
Very strong S1 and little increments throughout the lap led to pole
The top three in the Sprint qualifying were separated by less than a tenth, and Hamilton managed to pip Max Verstappen for pole by only 18 milliseconds.
In terms of where he made the difference on the final lap, especially with McLaren seemingly having an edge over the rest of the grid from the get-go, the 40-year-old responded that he would be able to comment only after analysing the data.
Nonetheless, Hamilton surmised that his robust first sector and marginal gains across all three had allowed him to put together the fastest lap of the session as he claimed his first Sprint pole for Ferrari at the F1 Chinese GP. He also remarked that the SF-25 has more to offer with regard to lap time and that he is intent on making that jump during the next qualifying session tomorrow.
“I have no idea; I have to go back and have a look.
“But my first sector was really, really strong. I think that’s where I made most of my improvement on that lap, but just little increments through the whole place.
“I think there’s still time to find for sure, which I’ll try and make sure that I apply to the next qualifying session we go out in.
“But it’s amazing to see the number one as you stop and be in the red car. It’s pretty incredible.”
Hamilton cautiously optimistic about Sprint win tomorrow
With regard to the possibility of hanging on in the Sprint itself after Ferrari opted against conducting long runs during the only practice session of the F1 Chinese GP, Hamilton sounded cautiously optimistic given the strong pace he expects the McLarens and the Red Bull of Verstappen to demonstrate tomorrow.
Referring to his lack of race runs in pre-season testing and the inclement weather conditions in Melbourne last Sunday, Hamilton commented that he would use the long runs from the races in the next two days to gain a better understanding of the car. Regardless, he added that he is hopeful about claiming his first victory in red tomorrow after starting from pole.
“I mean, I didn’t get to do a race run in Bahrain. Obviously we did the race last weekend in the wet, but tomorrow will be kind of my first real long-ish run or race run, and Sunday will be my first proper race run in the dry with this car.
“So I’ll be learning. I’m hoping that we can hold on to it. But I think the McLarens are very, very, very fast as is Max [Verstappen].
“But we’re in a good position. We’ll stay positive. We’ll keep our heads high and keep pushing forwards.”
Leclerc’s struggles in turns 1 to 3 returned
When asked to share his thoughts on his fourth place in the Sprint qualifying, Leclerc admitted that he found himself on the back foot in comparison to his teammate from the very beginning of the race weekend.
Revealing that his struggles in turns 1 to 3 from last season have materialised again, Leclerc rued his unsatisfactory result given the narrow margin covering the top three. Nevertheless, the Ferrari driver is optimistic about gaining some positions in the first Sprint race of the year at the F1 Chinese GP tomorrow.
“I’ve struggled on my side of the garage. From the beginning, I felt like I was a step back compared to Lewis [Hamilton] and Lewis was just faster today.
“[I] struggled a lot in Turns 1, 2, 3, which was more or less the same struggles I had last year. So that’s a bit of a shame. But apart from that, everything was quite tight.
“So obviously it’s a shame we start P4 but Lewis is on pole and hopefully we can have a good race together tomorrow.”
Expectations for tomorrow
In terms of how he found FP1 with the considerably warmer track conditions and Pirelli increasing both the front and rear tyre pressure by 1 psi, Leclerc responded that his side of the garage found it really challenging to place the car in the best operating window.
Admitting that they have more pace to extract over a single lap before hitting the track for qualifying tomorrow, the Monégasque implied that the pecking order might change after drivers take the chequered flag in the Sprint race tomorrow.
“Very difficult. We struggled to put everything in the right window but at the end of the day, it felt a little bit better in qualifying but not where I wanted it to be.
“So, some work has to be done for qualifying tomorrow. However, in the race, it’s another story and this we’ll only see tomorrow.”
When asked how he plans to reset for tomorrow and keep the tyres in their optimal window, Leclerc confessed that he expects the Sprint race to be a difficult one to manage with regard to the tyres and the graining they might encounter.
Nonetheless, the 27-year-old added that Ferrari are focused on tackling the issue and that he expects to bounce back before qualifying for the F1 Chinese GP takes place later in the afternoon tomorrow.
“Again, first we have a Sprint race which I think will be very tricky around here with the tyres. So, we’ve got to focus on that and then we’ll see about qualifying later on.”
Vasseur believes Ferrari still have a lot of work to do despite some progress
Although he considers Hamilton’s pole a step forward in comparison to their poor showing in Australia, team principal Fred Vasseur stated that it’s still tricky to gauge where the top teams stand given the fluctuations they are witnessing from one session to another.
“Yeah, it’s better than last week. But it’s still difficult to read and to understand from one session to the other one.
“Sometimes McLaren have a huge gap; sometimes it’s not true. Let’s analyse the data that I think we have a lot of work to do.”
In reference to the mental game in Formula 1, the Frenchman acknowledged the positive impact of this result on Hamilton and the rest of the team. Nonetheless, Vasseur also issued caution that Ferrari have further gains to make as they gear up to maximise their results in the remaining three sessions of the F1 Chinese GP.
“For sure, it’s a good feeling and if you compare with last week where we struggled a lot in the quali and race, for sure it’s much better and it’s putting a positive energy on the team and on Lewis [Hamilton].
“This is good, but I always see the negative side of this [with multiple sessions to go].
“We can score a lot of points this weekend with the Sprint and this is positive for sure. And the fact that Lewis was Q1 and Q3 in front is also a proof of consistency and this is good.”
