Again, when Sunday comes, indoors Ferrari there is an air of disappointment. In the Grand Prix of Spain Max Verstappen wins which closes in front of the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Super performance by the Brackley stable which, with the arrival of the new W-14, sends a very clear message for the second place in the constructors. Fifth and eleventh only (because of Tsunoda's penalty) Ferrari with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Vasseur: "We're there in qualifying, not in the race"
The race pace remains the most delicate element for the Maranello team: Sainz struggled a lot with the yellows, also complaining of graining, while Leclerc immediately returned to the pits, after 17 laps to be exact, despite having started on the hard tires. To make a point about their weekend in Spain, also featuring the many updates brought to the SF-23, is the team principal of Ferrari Frederic Vasseur:
How do you comment this weekend?
"It is not difficult. The main problem is in line with the last few races. The potential of the car is there and you can see it in qualifying, while in the race we struggle too much to maintain continuity from compound to compound”.
Is it a fuel degradation or increase problem between qualifying and the race?
“It's not a tire management problem, just look at the last stint where we did a good job. I think there is potential to enhance it and sooner or later we will be able to get it out of this car. We have to do a better job."
Need to review updates already?
“In terms of updates, I think we've taken a step forward: it was Carlos's best qualifying, for example. We have to be good at separating what went well and what didn't. The problems are still there but we can still grow”.
Amazed by the trend of Mercedes?
“No, also because we are in line with the last few races: faster in qualifying, while they beat us in the race. Now it's important to be clear in the analysis in view of Canada”.
Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
“I don't expect to see the light or not. We have to plan ourselves at work and understand what we have to do. We mustn't be quick in our analysis: we have a problem with the tires that make us too inconsistent, but the pure performance of the car isn't bad at all".
