Vasseur: Ferrari's Shanghai Prep "Quite Poor"

Ferrari’s director Vasseur admits to poor Shanghai prep, citing no excuses despite uniform challenges.

Scuderia Ferrari’s director, Frédéric Vasseur, stated there should be no “excuse” after acknowledging the team’s preparations for the Chinese Grand Prix were “quite poor.”

The streak of podium finishes for the Maranello team at the start of the 2024 season was broken in Shanghai with Lando Norris finishing 2nd between the Red Bull drivers.

Despite disappointing one-lap pace, Charles Leclerc was optimistic about the team’s speed in race conditions. However, Leclerc could not challenge Norris’s McLaren in the final stages despite the intervention of the safety car, ending up 10 seconds back in fourth place.

Although Vasseur suggested that the resurfaced asphalt at the Shanghai circuit was an unforeseen obstacle, he implied that Ferrari had erred in their setups.

“I think nobody came to a test day a month ago in Shanghai. So we were all in the same boat.”

“It’s true that it was the first time we returned to Shanghai with this generation of F1 cars. And the coating or paint on the tarmac probably didn’t help, as I think we saw a huge evolution of the track over the weekend.”

“But again, this is absolutely not an excuse, everyone faced the same situation and some teams managed it better than others.”

“We need to understand if we can do a better job in preparation, but I think it was quite poor.”

Ferrari is expected to bring new parts to their SF-24 at the next round in Miami, before a substantial upgrade at the team’s first home race at Imola.

However, Vasseur warned that the effectiveness of the updates would be limited if they failed to maximize their potential.

“It’s more about extracting the best from what we have. And honestly, we talk about development, but first, as a team, we need to make the most of what we have. We did not do the job this weekend in that regard.”