On a weekend where McLaren had a pace advantage over Scuderia Ferrari, the Italian giants led by Fred Vasseur took 3 points out of the Woking-based squad by the end of the Qatar GP event.
Lando Norris’ 10-second time penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags opened the door for Ferrari to take 9 points out of McLaren on Sunday, and it could have been a few more has Carlos Sainz not picked up a puncture.
At the flag, it was Leclerc in P2 and Sainz in P6. The McLarens of Piastri and Norris were P3 and P10 — the British driver also grabbed a critical point for the fastest lap.
Very long stint on the mediums
On lap 34, Carlos Sainz’s front left tyre gave up as the debris from Alex Albon’s mirror cost him dearly. He had been running in a very solid P5 at the time.
It would cost him positions to Russell and Gasly on the road as he limped back to the pits, with the Safety Car finally appearing just as he left the pits.
Speaking after the Qatar GP, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur says the team was planning on going even further. Due to the low degradation on the medium, the drivers were getting faster and faster throughout the stint.
“No, no. The plan was to pit even later.
“On one car we pitted because of the puncture and the other one with the safety car, but the initial plan was to pit even later than this.
“I think that we will discuss at the end about the story about the VSC before or not.
“But the plan was to be longer on this.”
Debris at fault
Asked what ultimately caused Sainz’s puncture, Vasseur confirmed it was debris.
“For sure tyre wear is not helping but the reason of the puncture is the debris.”
Gentle introduction at the start of the race
In the opening laps of the Qatar GP, Leclerc and Sainz dropped away from the top 4 cars as Ferrari carefully looked after their mediums following the restart — and it worked a treat for the Monegasque driver.
After passing Piastri at the start, the Australian got him back at turn 1 on the Safety Car restart as he got the perfect tow.
Having dropped 3s behind the McLaren early on to look after the tyres, Leclerc closed to within 1.5s by lap 34.
Piastri pitted just before the Safety Car, opening the door for Leclerc to take P3 as he boxed behind it.
Vasseur praised both drivers for the job they did in the first stint at the Qatar GP, with Sainz around 4.5s behind his teammate before his tyre troubles struck.
“It’s too conservative [the slow introduction] if you have a Safety Car lap 25, but the plan was to go a bit longer than this.
“And I think it was the right approach because when we decided to push at laps 12-15 the pace was there.
“I think we were expecting to do a long stint.
“And honestly the initial plan was very well executed by the two drivers, and they did a very good job.
“Now you know the story after the Safety Car.
“But the plan was well executed.”
No interest in using the softs
Although the mediums lasted a very long time, the soft tyre did not work at all around Qatar as the high speed corners quickly degraded them, as shown by Alex Albon towards the end of the Grand Prix.
Vasseur went back to the slow introduction plan by Ferrari that played out very nicely in the end.
“No, no, or you have to do a stint of one lap [on softs].
“No, no, because we were quite confident with the medium, and the deg was less than the fuel effect. We were going faster and faster.
“When you go over the slow introduction, it was performant, at least for us, and we were confident with this set.
“You can fish also for the Safety Car in this case.”
An unexpected closing of the gap
McLaren’s maximum haul of 15 points in the Sprint on Saturday moved them 30 clear of Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.
However, Sunday’s dramatic events have given Ferrari a small window of opportunity in Abu Dhabi with a gap of 21 points.
The corner characteristics in Lusail did not suit the SF-24, and Vasseur admits Ferrari would have signed a piece of paper if he was offered the Qatar GP result before the weekend.
Charles Leclerc outscored Lando Norris by 16 points on Sunday, moving to within 8 in the battle for P2 in the Drivers’ Championship, something the Frenchman is targeting as well.
“I would have signed before for this.
“We are scoring more points than McLaren. We are still alive for the championship.
“Charles is not far away now from Norris I think also that for P2 on the drivers’ side.
“Overall it’s a good result.
“Now I would prefer to have 20 points ahead than 20 points behind. But let’s see.
“I think on the paper that the next one is probably a bit better for us also.
“Let’s fight until the last corner of the last lap.”
Focusing on themselves
Even if Ferrari scores a 1-2 in Abu Dhabi next year and get the fastest lap point, it would not be enough if both McLarens finish inside the top 5, although one needs to be on the podium if the other is P5.
Sainz led home a Ferrari 1-2 in Melbourne back in March, with Leclerc doing it at COTA in October.
Vasseur says the key is for Ferrari to focus on themselves and do the best job they can, a consistent message he has delivered throughout the year.
“No, I would prefer to have 20 points in the pocket.
“It’s not a matter of pressure. It’s a matter to do a good job and to be quick. And then first to be focused on ourselves.
“We were able to do one-twos some weekends during the season, and we’ll to try to do the best to do this [in Abu Dhabi].
“But it’s true that even if you do a one-two that they can be champions.
“But first the most important is to be focused on yourself, not to start to thinking about what the others are doing, because you are losing a little bit the pace of the weekend.
“At least this weekend the approach was very good because we’re into the mix for the championship.
“We stayed focused on our car, on our strategy and not thinking too much about what McLaren or Red Bull is doing.”
Huge motivation for Abu Dhabi; tyre management the key
Since their updates at Monza, Ferrari has generally maximised their results. Both drivers took wins across the Americas leg to keep them in the hunt against McLaren.
Leclerc and Sainz have also repeatedly said for weeks Abu Dhabi will suit the Ferrari car more than at the Qatar GP weekend, and it is something Vasseur echoed on Sunday evening.
He expects tyre management to be key. Race pace has been incredibly close between Ferrari and McLaren recently, with Red Bull and Mercedes making appearances in the mix at times in the dry as well.
The Frenchman says the team will also head to the UAE with massive motivation as they look to secure their first F1 title since 2008 — a Constructors’ Championship won by Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa.
“It’s true that on the paper for different reasons, the track temperature, the layout of the track, we are probably in a better shape. But it’s not always true.
“It’s mainly driven by tyre management at the end because the delta between the cars are so small that tyre management is taking the lead on everything.
“And we’ll have to do the job. It’s not a given that we’ll be in a good shape next week in Abu Dhabi.
“But it will be like it will be. We’ll have to do the job. We’ll have to put everything together. It’s always a challenge.
“But we’ll go to Abu Dhabi with huge motivation.”
