Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media
After the disappointing GP in Miami, Frederic Vasseur analysed the race of his team. The Frenchman said that there was a lot of work to be done on the SF-23, above all to find consistency in the race pace. He also talked about the updates arriving at Imola.
It was a difficult weekend in Miami for Scuderia Ferrari. A weekend in which, after the encouraging signs of Baku, the Prancing Horse arrived confident of being able to confirm the recent progress and of being able to be second force behind Red Bull.
But these expectations were not confirmed given that the SF-23 appeared slow and difficult to drive since Friday.
In qualifying, the situation worsened, with Carlos Sainz third (behind the Aston Martin) and Leclerc against the wall for a nervous, undriveable car that focused too much on the front.
Finally, in the race, the SF-23 once again showed poor speed, suffered from tyre degradation and a lack of balance.
A weekend that effectively relegates the Maranello team to the role of fourth force in the field with, above all, little confidence in the future (since the first updates introduced didn’t work).
At the end of the race, the Scuderia’s team principal, Frederic Vasseur, commented on his team’s disappointing day, arguing that the real problem with the SF-23 to date is a lack of consistency in race pace.
“Overall it was a tough weekend and a tough race. Yesterday the pace was decent but we weren’t able to put everything together. Today it’s quite similar.
“The first stint went pretty well for Carlos. He lost a couple of seconds in the first third of the race and lost twenty-five seconds in the last two thirds of the race.
“We were far too inconsistent from one car to the other and from one lap to the other. We have to understand why.”
The Frenchman then spoke, in general, about the race for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. In fact, each of the two appeared to be in difficulty in separate stages of the race and with different compounds. A worrying signal on which Ferrari will have to intervene.
“It’s not just the race, because at some stages were okay-ish. In the first stint with mediums for Carlos, we lost five seconds in 18 laps. I think at this stage of the race was okay for Carlos, and for Charles it was the opposite.
“He was in good shape at some stages of the second stint with the hard. He was struggling much more in the first part of the race.
“We really need to focus attention on this because that is key for us, and it’s where we have to do a step.”
Furthermore, the Ferrari team principal spoke about the updates arriving in the next race weekend at Imola. There will be developments, but to date they do not seem able to improve the situation of the Cavallino in terms of race pace.
“It will be essential to have the support of the fans at Imola. As far as updates are concerned, however, if we look at today, it’s not a question of bringing them; we have to focus on consistency. Obviously updates will come, but it won’t be the fundamental point.”
