Fred Vasseur scrutinizes Ferrari’s strategy failures at Baku as Charles Leclerc’s pit stop raises eyebrows.
Ferrari is frustrated after the Grand Prix in Baku. For the fourth time in five years, a Ferrari (that of Charles Leclerc) started in pole… and did not secure the 25 points for the win.
After dominating the first part of the race, the Italian team could not realize its ambitions due to a sequence of unfavorable circumstances, from the timing of Leclerc’s stop to Sainz’s crash with Pérez.
Frédéric Vasseur, the team director, initially understood why Charles Leclerc had struggled to overtake Oscar Piastri, even before seeing his performance collapse towards the end of the race. The Monegasque was initially overly optimistic, thinking it would be easy to repass the McLaren F1. Then, driving in dirty air, he wore out his Pirellis too much.
“The rear tires didn’t help Charles, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. Perhaps he was a bit optimistic after the first stint because we were very comfortable. So, he didn’t push after the pit stop. Maybe that wasn’t the right approach, because in the end, it was very difficult to try to overtake Piastri. When you’re behind, you damage the tires more than when you’re in front.”
“The overtake on Oscar? I haven’t yet spoken with Charles, but it was the first lap of the stint, it was important to conserve the tires, and maybe he didn’t realize that Piastri was so quick on the straights, so he was surprised.”
“Two weeks ago at Monza, it was probably the opposite: track position is important and when you spend 20 laps behind someone, you wear out the rear tires a lot trying to overtake. After 25 laps, you begin to degrade the tires more than the person in front of you. I think that’s what happened during the first stint to Piastri who was behind us. He stayed behind us for 10 laps, then in the last five laps of the first stint, we created a significant gap.”
In qualifying and during the first stint on mediums, it was indeed Charles Leclerc who was dominating Oscar Piastri’s McLaren F1, adding to Frédéric Vasseur’s regrets…
“We had the potential to win with the package we had on the track in Baku. We started from pole, we were leading, so before talking about upcoming updates or developments, we need to make sure we are getting the most out of what we have.”
Pit stop management was also criticized. Leclerc perhaps came in one or two laps too late, allowing Piastri to close the gap through the undercut—a problem Vasseur acknowledged, while defending the team’s decision:
“We would have done better to come in a lap earlier, but that’s a different story. The plan was to create a tire life gap and come into the pits a lap later.”
“It wasn’t a risk, on the contrary. When you are 5 seconds ahead of Piastri, you don’t expose yourself to a Safety Car risk by responding a lap later.”
Charles Leclerc’s pace on his out lap was also criticized for lacking aggressiveness.
“We were a bit timid on the out lap,” Vasseur also admits. “Clearly, we lost ground to Piastri, not only because of the stop but also in getting back to our pace.”
“We were convinced that to make the tires last for 30 laps, we needed to start the stint slower and avoid pushing too hard on the out lap, yet without losing our position.”
Frédéric Vasseur’s frustration was further aggravated by the collision between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez.
The FIA did not penalize either driver, but does Frédéric Vasseur share this view?
“Carlos started the straight just behind Charles, and both he and Pérez tried to take advantage of the slipstream. True, Checo had a lot of space on the left and didn’t move, but it’s unfortunate to end a weekend this way.”
“But it was a good race, an intense afternoon. Everyone was on the limit with the tires, and you can’t always win. We can draw conclusions, of course, but overall, we did a good job.”
Will the Scuderia be very strong again in Singapore?
Despite the disappointments in Baku, Vasseur remains optimistic about Ferrari’s upcoming performances, particularly for the next Grand Prix in Singapore.
Will the Scuderia be very strong on this city circuit, as earlier this year in Monaco?
“The story could be different, as the type of corners will be similar but with a lot more downforce. After Singapore, we’ll take a break before Austin. We’ll have time to discuss it, but I want to secure a good result in Singapore first, like last year. We’re in a good moment, and we need to continue this way to collect more points.”
“The pace was good throughout the weekend in Baku. If we can score more points in Singapore, that would be a step forward.”
“There will be ups and downs until the end of the season. The key is to win when you are well-placed, but also to collect points when you are not. In Baku, things did not go our way, but there will be better weekends.”
With Carlos Sainz’s retirement, the title in the constructors’ standings has drifted away for Ferrari, but catching up to Red Bull for second place is more playable than ever…
“In the end, the podium came with a second place, we score more points than Red Bull, we are catching them in the constructors’ championship, and that’s important. But it’s true there’s some frustration because we lost to Piastri and due to Carlos’s accident.”
“We are back in form and can fight for pole and victory every week. There are still 300 points available. Anything is possible, the fight will be long. Things have not turned in our favor, but better weekends will come.”
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Ferrari Falters: Baku Frustrations Spark Strategy Rethink Ferrari Falters: Baku Frustrations Spark Strategy Rethink
