F1 Saudi Arabian GP: “It was a bit more difficult,” Fred Vasseur gives his verdict on Ferrari’s qualifying performance

Fred Vasseur has gone on to share his thoughts on both the Ferrari driver’s performances at the Saudi Arabian GP.

F1 Saudi Arabian GP: “It was a bit more difficult,” Fred Vasseur gives his verdict on Ferrari’s qualifying performance

Fred vasseur

Fred Vasseur is Ferrari’s new man at the top after having replaced Mattia Binotto as the team principal for the 2023 F1 season. The Scuderia has been struggling a lot ever since a decade as they aren’t able to win a title since 2008. However, the possibility of the guys in red winning a championship was almost doubled back in the 2022 season. This being due to the fact that the team had a competitive package.

However, Red Bull and Max Verstappen absolutely dominated last year and prevented the Tifosi from celebrating a title victory. Charles Leclerc went on to finish P2 in the championship last year which was a good result but not what he wanted. Before pre-season testing, everyone thought that Ferrari would be right up there with the bulls. This being predicted due to reports stating a massive increase in power in their engine.

YouTube video

Fast forward to 2023 and they still seem to be struggling to get back on top. During Qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP, Charles Leclerc came just a tenth and a half short for pole position. Sergio Perez was the one who took the top honours on saturday. However, Charles also has a 10 place grid penalty which will put him in P12 on the grid for sunday’s race. Fred Vasseur has stated that he is satisfied with Leclerc’s performance and expects more.

FS Video

Discover: Most expensive F1 car ever to be sold at auction

Fred Vasseur says that a podium is possible for Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc and Fred Vasseur
Charles Leclerc and Fred Vasseur

In an interview with Viaplay, here is what he said. Overall, I think qualifying was a good one for the team. Charles was fighting for pole position, and we were something like a tenth short,” Vasseur concluded at Viaplay.”For Carlos [Sainz] it was a bit more difficult because he had to use a second set [of tyres] in Q1 and then he had just one set in Q3, made a small mistake with this set and it’s a shame,” he continued.

“When you are P2 in qualifying, you have to expect to be on the podium at the end. You know that Jeddah, on paper, is probably one of the easiest [tracks] to overtake, but it’s also a strange one, because you could have a train of DRS and it would be a strategic one,” he concluded. The Ferrari team principal is satisfied with the qualifying performances from both the drivers.

With Charles Leclerc’s penalty, he will be starting in P12. He will be joined by Max Verstappen at the back as he failed to put in a lap time for Q2. This being due to a driveshaft issue. It will be interesting to see where the duo will finish as both have competitive packages. However, their reliability seems to be something that could turn into an issue really soon.

In case you missed it: