Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur is not interested in weighing his team’s and Lewis Hamilton’s title chances, despite the Briton reducing Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead with his victory in Barcelona.
Hamilton had already climbed to second in the standings after Monaco and then cut Antonelli’s advantage by 25 points in Spain, helped by his own victory and the Italian’s retirement.
Vasseur insists Ferrari’s approach will not change because of one strong weekend.
“I’m not sure that I want to reply to this kind of question,” Vasseur said when asked whether Ferrari would fully back Hamilton in a potential title fight.
“I had probably the same comments two weeks ago, that everything was a disaster – and now we are speaking about the world championship.
“This is the worst approach that I could have. The approach is to go to Austria exactly with the same approach that I had in Barcelona and not to think about the championship or to project yourself with 25 more wins, [or] what I could do [to push for the title]. I will never do it.”
The “disaster” reference was a nod to how quickly perceptions can change in Formula 1.
Following Monaco, many observers felt Ferrari had failed to capitalise on what appeared to be one of its best opportunities of the season. Ahead of the race weekend, several rivals had tipped Ferrari as the favourite, pointing to the SF-26’s strength in low-speed corners and the reduced importance of engine power around the streets of Monte Carlo.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris was among those who expected Ferrari to be the benchmark.
“Honestly, I think that Ferrari will be on pole next weekend in Monaco,” Norris said after the Canadian Grand Prix. “Their low-speed performance is far better than everyone else.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, crosses the finish line in Barcelona
Photo by: Manaure Quintero / AFP via Getty Images
Yet, Hamilton and his team-mate Charles Leclerc qualified third and fourth on the grid, behind not only Antonelli but also Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The latter retired on the opening lap, while Hamilton finished second in a race where Antonelli’s Mercedes enjoyed a clear pace advantage.
Barcelona, however, painted a very different picture.
Ferrari arrived with a major upgrade package that appeared to help it close the gap to Mercedes. Hamilton converted that pace into victory, although a well-timed virtual safety car also worked in his favour, while Ferrari’s tyre management looked particularly strong compared to its rivals.
Yet Vasseur is reluctant to treat one race as proof that Ferrari has solved its weaknesses, warning that Barcelona’s extreme temperatures could have been a significant factor.
“Yes, but this we have to pay attention,” he said when asked whether Ferrari had made a step in tyre management.
“It’s not because you are doing a good weekend that you will blow up everybody every single weekend. You know that the conditions were quite extreme. It was already the case in Canada for different reasons, but the opposite. Probably next race in Austria it will be something more average.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Mario Renzi / Formula 1 via Getty Images
“We are all really on the edge for degradation. You can do a good stint and a bad stint with the same car on the same track.
“We had a difference between cars. If you compare the stint in medium and hard, some cars were much more performant in hard. Sometimes much more performant in medium. It’s not a given for the rest of the season.”
Power boost
Ferrari is also expected to receive approval to further develop its power unit through the FIA’s ADUO mechanism, potentially opening another avenue for performance gains.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella suggested after Barcelona that Ferrari may now possess the strongest chassis on the grid, even if Mercedes still holds an overall advantage when engine performance is factored into the equation – with Norris saying the Scuderia would “embarrass” the competition with a more powerful engine.
Vasseur, though, does not want to raise expectations about the gains Ferrari could unlock with an upgraded PU.
“Stay calm on this,” he smiled when asked whether an upgraded engine could tip the balance in Ferrari’s favour.
“What is good is that we are going, I think, in the right direction. It was a really good weekend in Canada, a good one in Monaco. This weekend the pace was good from the beginning.
“We were able to fight with the two cars for the pole position. I think it’s a good step forward.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
Vasseur underlined that Barcelona can no longer be viewed as a reliable indicator of the competitive order because the relatively new regulations still leave significant room for development.
“I think what is important is that this season, the championship will be based on the capacity of the team to develop, not on the picture of Barcelona,” he said.
“Usually, perhaps the last 25 years, we are used to say that a good car in Barcelona will dominate the season. But I think this season will be much more based on the fact and the capacity of all the teams to bring performance to the car.
“I think we brought something this weekend, the others didn’t. They will probably bring something in the UK, I don’t know. And we will bring something soon.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
