Fred Vasseur deems Ferrari’s pole position at Monza a major ‘milestone’ for the team

Fred Vasseur is pleased with Ferrari's efforts during the Italian GP qualifying session.

Fred Vasseur deems Ferrari’s pole position at Monza a major ‘milestone’ for the team

Fred Vasseur (Via IMAGO)

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza Circuit is the den of the Ferrari F1 team. Carlos Sainz’s pole position for the Italian GP has brought smiles to the faces of the Tifosi worldwide. The script could not have been written any better, and Ferrari’s Team Principal, Fred Vassure, is on cloud 9 with the result.

The dying stages of yesterday’s qualifying session were incredibly intense, with pole position being a three-way fight between Max Verstappen and the Ferrari starlets. As the time ran out during Q3, Charles Leclerc secured the pole but was overtaken by Verstappen, who Carlos Sainz, in turn, overtook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2duOgfvbew

Ferrari could not have picked a better circuit to deliver their best qualifying result of 2023, and while shedding light on the same, Fred Vasseur told Motorsport, “It was a good qualifying. We had already had a good Friday, with Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 going well. This morning things went right in the last session before qualifying and even now we were good.“

He added, “Obviously, the most important day of the weekend is tomorrow, with the race, but we have to take this pole as a milestone. Of course, it’s not a victory, but it’s certainly a milestone for us. Today it was a question of putting in the performance right at the right moment, then the race will be another story. We’ll see it tomorrow, but it was certainly a very nice feeling for everyone.”

Discover: Oscar Piastri qualifies ahead of his teammate following a “stressful” session at Monza

Ferrari has a golden chance of securing the win in Monza

Ferrari (Credits: Motorsport)
Ferrari (Credits: Motorsport)

While the Ferrari F1 team is in a joyous mood after securing a P1 and P3 starting position for the Italian GP, the job is still half done as Leclerc and Sainz have got the prolific Max Verstappen staring in between them. He will try to take the lead going into Turn 1 on the first lap of the 53-lap Italian GP.

From Ferrari’s perspective, it will be crucial that both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz show good teamwork to keep Verstappen at bay. Moreover, one thing that is going in their favor is that the SF-23 has shown real pace at the Monza circuit, and it could prove to be just about enough to hold off Verstappen’s challenge.

However, considering the Dutchman’s ruthless form during the ongoing campaign combined with the might of the RB19, things will get difficult for Ferrari during the race. Ferrari would need to execute an error-free race to have a good chance of securing the win in its home Grand Prix.

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