The Formula 1 Ferrari team boss, Frederic Vasseur, believes that the team’s starting position was the determining factor in their performance at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, costing them a chance at victory. Despite introducing highly anticipated updates in Imola and showing promise in the early practice sessions, Ferrari found themselves qualifying behind Max Verstappen from Red Bull and the two McLaren drivers. Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz expressed disappointment in losing ground in the first sector. Although Leclerc managed to gain a position due to Oscar Piastri’s grid penalty, he was unable to successfully overtake Lando Norris. Vasseur acknowledges the progress made with the team’s latest updates, but attributes the missed opportunity for victory to difficulties in qualifying. He expresses frustration, believing that if they had secured the first two positions in qualifying, they would have replicated that success in the race.
Leclerc briefly stood out as the fastest driver in the second part of the race, but a mistake at Variante Alta allowed Norris to maintain his lead. As a result, Leclerc finished seven seconds behind the leaders. Vasseur explains that this difference was a consequence of the earlier attack Leclerc faced. When asked about the reasons behind Ferrari’s inconsistent pace during the race, Vasseur suggests that it was a common experience for all teams. By pushing harder, each team had a pace reserve, but this also led to overheating of the tires and a subsequent drop in performance for a few laps. Vasseur notes that overtaking was difficult, especially for the top four or five drivers. However, he believes that applying more pressure to the driver in front could have potentially yielded better results.
