Frederic Vasseur says Ferrari has made most of the opportunity presented in F1 2024 so far which wasn’t the case in the last few seasons.
In the last two seasons of dominance from Red Bull, one of the key reasons for them to stay ahead is the inconsistency from their rivals especially Ferrari, who were the only one to pose a challenge. The likes of McLaren and Aston Martin came along at times.
But Ferrari were there and thereabouts. Vasseur has stressed on piling the pressure on Red Bull which will force them to make mistakes and the trick has worked in 2024. Two wins for the Italian F1 team and one for McLaren is testament to the thought process.
Consistent behaviour from Ferrari is one the key reasons for it and Vasseur believes that they are making most of the opportunities presented to them which wasn’t the case in the previous few seasons. It is a close battle and they are very much in the mix.
“If you have a look at the last three or four races, Miami, Imola, this one, Melbourne, I think we had one in between, we had everybody in one tenth,” said Vasseur. “Even on the long stint, because in Miami we did 40 laps to finish two seconds behind Max and in Imola it was 36 laps for six seconds.
“I think now we have at least three teams, but I think Mercedes is not that far away, at least three teams able to fight for the pole position, able to fight for the win. It’s exciting and it will be, I hope, like this until the end of the season. For sure, depending from track to track, we’ll have perhaps Red Bull with an advantage, or Ferrari, or McLaren.
“And we’ll have to be opportunistic. It was not always the case in the past that last year we lost far too many points into the season, and this season we made a huge step forward on this one also. We are much more opportunistic, and it will be like this until the end of the season, that the fight will be tight,” summed up Vasseur.
This consistency has been made possible by the team at Maranello, who have worked tirelessly to fine tune their machine. Tyre management has been one of the areas where Ferrari has improved well, which has helped in improved race pace.
“We did a step forward in tyre management, which wasn’t the topic in Monaco,” said Vasseur. “It was more the management of the pace. Last year we had the clear picture that we were performing in quali but struggling a bit more on the long stints. We were struggling on some corners and less on some others.
“We worked on the weaknesses, we did a good step forward, maybe damaging a bit the pace in quali compared with last year but it’s also for the benefit of the race. And in the end we’ve scored more points this season than last year. We’re going in the right direction. Last year Red Bull had a very decent gap.
“Sometimes we were able to fight with them for the quali, but in the race average it was four or five tenths per lap. When you have four or five tenths of difference you’re not really at risk. Even if you miss the quali position, you have this comfort that everything could happen.
“Max pitted in Austria [ast year on the last lap to set the fastest lap because he had one pitstop of gap. In this season this isn’t the case any more,” summed up Vasseur, who doesn’t want to pin anyone as a contender at this moment. He knows Red Bull is the benchmark and whether McLaren or Mercedes could pose to be a challenger, he is not too worried about them.
“I’m only focused on myself – I don’t care about the others, the target is to do a good job, to improve the car, to do a good job with the drivers,” said Vasseur. “Then we’re fighting with the guys who are with us on the grid. I’m not focused on someone else – there are still 17 races to go.
“McLaren is a contender, for sure in Monaco, we were first and third, they were second and fourth, we had exactly the same pace. I think yesterday it was a matter of one tenth. They were in front of us in Imola. It will be like this until the end. I’m not fixated by Red Bull.”
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