The race of Imola highlighted how every single detail can make a difference from now on, especially with three teams within seconds. Ferrari finished the race on the podium with Charles Leclerc. The team in Imola was looking for the first answers to the updates brought, updates that mark a first step to regain ground on Red Bull but also to defend themselves from McLaren. In fact, if Ferrari demonstrated that it has reduced the gap in terms of race pace, in qualifying there is still room for improvement. Margin that will have to be filled with developments. Especially in Imola, qualifying proved decisive for all the teams, and in such a close fight at the top Ferrari cannot afford to miss this event. Frédéric Vasseur expressed himself on Ferrari's next steps in the post-Imola GP press conference.
A three-way world championship depends on small differences
The difficulty of overtaking at Imola prevented Ferrari from making the most of the SF-24, despite the updates introduced. Ferrari wasn't the only one to suffer over the weekend, however. Red Bull struggled on both Friday and Saturday. In a less perfect weekend it was up to Max Verstappen to do his best to save the situation and return to victory. All on a track, on paper, where he should have dominated.
During the Grand Prix there were several phases in which the times of the various drivers went up or down. A bizarre element but one that does not surprise Vasseur. “Having been very competitive in some phases of the race and less so in others? I think it was the same for everyone: when you push you overheat the tires a little more, then you suffer for a couple of laps and you go back. In any case, I think it was impossible to overtake, at least for the first four or five. The only thing you can do in these conditions is put pressure on those in front".
Another important aspect concerns the fact that the first three finished just 7 seconds behind, something that would have seemed impossible just a few months ago. “This is good news for me, for F1 and for the championship”, explained Vasseur. “There are three teams in seven seconds after 63 laps. The situation has remained almost unchanged since the beginning of the weekend and next week we will start from scratch in Monaco, with a different track and different corners."
The big difference was the qualification. An area in which Vasseur recognizes that he needs to improve: “We have, I think, partially compensated for the gap with Red Bull and we are not far off. If we had taken the front row in qualifying, we would have done a double in the race. We need to change our approach to do differently".
The rush for updates
The updates introduced have allowed Ferrari to take a step forward, but Imola is not the best track to judge them as Vasseur also says. “We will have a better understanding of the evolutionary package as soon as we encounter tracks with different types of curves”, explained Vasseur after the Imola GP. However, given McLaren's rapid growth it is necessary to accelerate the pace of developments, so as not to be left behind. “I think competition is going to be everywhere and we're at the point where we will have to accelerate development. Imagine if someone managed to bring an update a race earlier, when there are three teams enclosed in a handkerchief: this allows you to easily go from fifth to first position. This means we will have to speed up the process. We have already discussed it after the race and it will be fundamental, but we must also pay attention to the fact that we are now chasing the last hundredth. This is no longer a five-tenths update and you have to be sure that what you are carrying works".
The competitiveness of Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari is set to lead to a season of uncertainty. The championship is still long and it will be important to grow progressively in the next 17 races.
Source statements: FormulaPassion
