The first Sprint weekend of the season will take place this weekend in China, a stage that Formula 1 has not covered for 5 years now, since the start of the Pandemic. There are many unknowns, mainly linked to the state of the track Shanghai, as well as the innovations that the category has embraced since 2019. It will in fact be a first for ground effect single-seaters since the year of the introduction of the new regulation. The Sprint weekend makes everything more complicated as the teams will only have one free practice session available before competing in the first qualifying of the weekend, i.e. qualifying for the Sprint. In view of the weekend in China, Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, spoke about the hot topics in this Asian event.
The first four races for Ferrari were positive. A victory complete with a double and podium at every stage. Considering the differences in the tracks and the unknowns at each weekend, the response given by the SF-24 was undoubtedly better than that of the SF-23. Although Ferrari still paid something to Red Bull in qualifying, in the race, where the points come, there was a step forward.
Vasseur and the doubts ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix
The team has a lot of confidence in the project but before moving on with the updates he wants to make sure he has extracted the maximum potential from the machine. In Shanghai the challenge with Red Bull could reignite in view of the many unknowns linked to the return to China and the presence of the Sprint weekend. In past seasons we have seen how Ferrari was one of the few teams to take advantage of this format which immediately requires a good weekend read.
Compared to past seasons, however, there is something new: on Saturday, after the Sprint, it will be possible to get back to grips with the single-seaters. On the eve of the race weekend in China, Vasseur spoke about the unknowns.
“We find the Shanghai track again after many years and undoubtedly what we have ahead of us is a very challenging weekend. We will have to deal with several concomitant factors: the current generation cars will be making their debut on this circuit, but we will only have one free practice session available before playing for positions on the Sprint starting grid. Another strong question mark will be linked to the conditions of the asphalt, which could be more bumpy than we remember. As always with this weekend format it will be essential to have worked well at home and as far as we are concerned we will also have to improve on the management of the preparation lap in qualifying, where recently we have not been perfect. The objective, with both Carlos and Charles, is to maximize the potential of the car and bring home a solid result while trying to put pressure on our rivals."
Source statements: FormulaPassion
