The fourth place obtained by Charles Leclerc, which then grew to become a podium after the stewards choice concerning George Russell’s automobile being discovered underweight throughout checks, has left an reverse environment within the Ferrari camp.
On one hand, Charles Leclerc mentioned he was disenchanted as a result of he anticipated at the least to have the tempo to battle with the Mercedes vehicles, whereas alternatively, Frederic Vasseur is optimistic in regards to the end result at this time, despite the fact that on the monitor they didn’t even attain the rostrum regardless of ranging from pole. Essentially the most disappointing side is that among the many prime three finishers, there was just one doubtlessly sooner automobile, Oscar Piastri’s: whereas it’s true that George Russell shocked everybody along with his one-stop technique, the truth that they may not compete with Lewis Hamilton is the side that weighed probably the most in a race from which Charles Leclerc himself anticipated extra.
On Friday, Ferrari appeared within the working for the rostrum, however the adjustments made by Mercedes in a single day from Friday to Saturday paid off, serving to the drivers obtain a win inside attain with each of its drivers. Certainly, past Russell’s shock, Hamilton led the race after taking the lead within the early laps, at all times managing to take care of a security margin.
Nevertheless, Fred Vasseur is happy with the tempo proven, particularly within the first two stints, throughout which Leclerc contended for the victory longer, staying inside three seconds of the hole. A spot that may have clearly made it troublesome to give you one thing within the final stint with out a tempo benefit, however nonetheless not so giant after greater than half the race. The actual fact is that all through the Grand Prix, these tenths have been lacking to maintain the primary place gained on Saturday.
“Most end result I don’t know, however by way of efficiency, it was race. We have been all shocked by the very low degradation of the laborious tires and the very excessive consumption of the mediums. I feel Russell did the right technique, I don’t know if it was intentional, however in the long run, all of us completed inside ten seconds,” commented the Staff Principal of Ferrari on the finish of the race to Sky Italia.
“Everybody had big degradation on the mediums, apart from the primary laps as a result of we have been managing, however after we needed to push on the mediums, like Perez within the second stint, we pushed and got here again to the pits. At the start of the race, everybody manages a bit extra, and the state of affairs appears higher than actuality.” = the French supervisor identified.
Solely within the final a part of the race did the hole improve considerably, rising to virtually eight seconds on the finish, however this was additionally weighed down by two different elements, specifically the overtaking by Oscar Piastri and having to defend on the finish from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris: “It’s extra a query of the way you push and handle the stint. The degradation most likely shocked us a bit, then you definitely deal with defending out of your opponents, maybe utilizing the vitality in another way. However the tempo was constant all through the stint. Perhaps you lose a number of tenths because of ongoing battles, but it surely wasn’t a lot because of degradation,” added Fred Vasseur.
Past the ultimate end result, which sees Mercedes obtain the victory, Frederic Vasseur repeats that he’s happy with Charles Leclerc’s efficiency: “I might have most popular us to make the double quite than end fourth, however by way of efficiency, we discovered tempo. Now it’s a matter of a few tenths, we have now to place every thing collectively from the subsequent race.”
On this final level, Frederic Vasseur reviewed the primary a part of the 2024 Formulation 1 season with what ought to be the targets for the second a part of the championship. The bouncing downside has been considerably contained in comparison with what was seen within the Spain-Austria-Nice Britain trio, an indication that the updates dropped at Budapest have one way or the other helped to scale back the issue, even when it has not been utterly eradicated. Ferrari’s hope is that the brand new updates coming within the second a part of the championship will enable them to make a small however essential step ahead to place the SF-24 within the battle to grab alternatives like at this time.
“For now, if we make a comparability with twelve months in the past, we have now made step ahead. Furthermore, we have now 4 groups now combating for podiums and victories, which is constructive for the championship. The whole lot is open for the second a part of the season as a result of even making a small leap ahead of 1 or two tenths could make an enormous distinction,” mentioned the Staff Principal on the finish of the Belgian Grand Prix on the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
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