Ferrari Aims to Sustain Progress Amid Imola Evolution

As Imola’s upgrades debut, Ferrari focuses on maintaining its recent developmental strides, steering clear of Red Bull comparisons.

Fred Vasseur, the director of Scuderia Ferrari, approaches a very important first European Grand Prix for his team.

Indeed, at Imola, Ferrari will not only be racing at home but also with a significantly evolved SF-24. These new components were tested over 200 kilometers of running at Fiorano.

Is he satisfied with what the team has seen in terms of initial data? Is there room to progress to Red Bull’s level? He shares his thoughts today with the newspaper La Repubblica.

“It’s hard to say in advance. The truth is that the grid is so tight that a tenth can make a huge difference in terms of starting positions and race outcomes. Any small improvement we can make counts, it’s not like before when an upgrade could gain you 7 or 8 tenths.”

“We are looking to improve every detail. The most important thing is to improve and stay ahead, no matter by how much. I hope we are heading in the right direction and, though small, it’s a step that helps us in the battle against Red Bull and McLaren.”

“But I want to say two things. I am focused on ourselves; I think it’s a mistake to look at others. Many things vary from track to track, but also depend on how well we use the car and the resources available.”

However, winning the championship against Red Bull seems very difficult. After these few Grands Prix, would he be satisfied with a second place at the end of the championship? Vasseur remains more optimistic.

“It’s still early, after six races last year, we were in no man’s land in terms of performance, and we managed to come back, and it’s important to maintain this trend and pace. There’s still a lot of time before the end. We are second at the moment, you can be second after a tough battle or with regrets. This year, we can fight for a win every weekend and it’s a good feeling, that’s worth more than thinking about the World Championship.”

Vasseur denies any rising tension between Leclerc and Sainz

Amid the drivers, a bit of tension seems to be emerging. In China, there were some frictions between Sainz and Leclerc. Has something broken between them?

“I would say no. They have always been more or less side by side at every Grand Prix, which is the positive and the negative of having two excellent drivers at the same level. For me, it’s beneficial because there is a kind of ongoing emulation on the track. They are both very competitive, both want to have the best race possible and I have to talk to them and calm them down. But for me, it’s more of a pleasure, they both care about the team.”

Leclerc has had some difficulties during some qualifying sessions…

“For almost nothing each time. It happens that drivers can have more complicated races, it’s also happened to Carlos. No panic, these are normal fluctuations.”

Leclerc will have a new race engineer starting in Imola, with Bryan Bozzi replacing Xavi Marcos. Why this change?

“Because we are in a process of continuous improvement, we wanted to take this step, it’s an internal promotion with Bryan, he knows Charles very well and they have a good relationship, he is part of the team’s development like the others. We have just formalized the arrival of Loic Serra and Jérôme d’Ambrosio, released by Mercedes starting October 1st. These are additions to strengthen the team.”