Ferrari felt the tremor as Red Bull smashed the timer in Bahrain testing. In addition, Sainz and Leclerc’s SF-23 had already hinted at excessive tire degradation in long runs. It doesn’t look like a bad car, but it doesn’t look like one that can stand up to direct comparison with the RB19 either. Verstappen and Pérez are favorites before the Bahrain GP on March 5. But, from doors to outside, Frédéric Vasseur stresses that the Maranello team has completed the job and that the tests do not have to resemble the first race of the season, on the same circuit.
“If you start the tests by reviewing the performance level of the team, you are dead, because you react instead of complying with the work program. We have done a good job, we only had three days to scan all the set-up options in short runs and long runs. We did good mileage. We have improved overall. The race will be a completely different story, Charles did his lap with the track at 55 degrees, but qualifying and the Bahrain race are in the followingnoon. We have to take the tests as a test, and not as the first free practice of the Bahrain GP”, says the ‘main team’ of Ferrari.
He admits that the pilots —mainly Leclerc— were not entirely satisfied with the behavior of the SF-23, but he celebrates it: “If they were happy, it would be a professional mistake, the DNA of this business consists of always looking for more. They have to be unhappy, that’s the mentality. If they are completely happy with the balance of the car it means they are not pushing hard enough. Of course they ask for more, and more grip in general. We’ve covered various aspects and at the end of the three days, when you put it all together, the benefits are there. We don’t know what the others are doing in terms of engine modes.”
As for Charles’ discomfort, it seems like a problem solved: “Some of the stints he did were very good. It wasn’t like that on Saturday, his last flying lap was very good and the track was very hot. But on Friday he suffered a bit as we tried extreme options. It is not a surprise, some options do not work, but you have to try them all”.
“We will be fewer on the wall and Iñaki will be at the factory”
Vasseur advanced upon his arrival in Maranello that there would be no changes in the structure, that he had to verify first-hand the operation of the organization, but in Sakhir it was learned that Iñaki Rueda was leaving the Ferrari wall as head of strategy and will fulfill another role in the factory. The French leader justifies himself: “In the strategy it seems that it is a matter of an individual on the wall, but it is not. There are people in the factory, there is software and there is a flow of communication towards the wall that is important. We decided to change the organization a bit, we will be less on the wall and Iñaki will be at the factory focused on the sports field with Ravin (Jain) on the wall”.
“We work on the communication flow to make sure it is direct. When you have to react in a second you must be prepared for something that cannot be prepared. We have done something more direct and the team will work better. When something doesn’t work, you have to understand why it did. Many times, it is a question of the flow of information and not of who pushes the button and decides. At Sauber we were much fewer, and surely the flow of communication was easier, ”he explains. Slight tweaks to the wall and a lot of expectation regarding the car.
