Ferrari’s head honcho, Fred Vasseur, has challenged Charles Leclerc’s perception that McLaren was significantly faster during the recent Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. Contrary to Leclerc’s worries that the McLaren team held a two-second lead per lap, Vasseur maintains that the results don’t paint a “representative picture.”
The season opener at Albert Park Circuit, filled with unexpected twists and turns, witnessed Lando Norris of McLaren emerging victorious, a feat that set the tone for their campaign. Despite Ferrari’s promising start, where Leclerc dominated the initial practice rounds, the Italian team’s performance waned as the competition intensified. This resulted in a disappointing race where Ferrari’s racers barely managed to secure eighth and tenth positions.
Leclerc, the leading teammate of Lewis Hamilton, voiced concerns over McLaren’s potential speed advantage. “They were incredibly quick today,” Leclerc admitted to the press, including Motorsport Week. His speculation about the McLaren team’s lead ranged from a second to two seconds per lap. The exact gap remains uncertain as he confessed, “I don’t exactly know whether it’s a second or a second and a half or two. I hope not two. But I’ve heard some numbers that are quite impressive.”
Vasseur, on the other hand, dismissed these fears, arguing that Ferrari’s deficit to McLaren is not as insurmountable as it may appear. He underlined how the unpredictable weather conditions during the race skews the overall performance assessment. To support his argument, he cited how Max Verstappen lost 14 seconds within 10 laps due to excessive tyre degradation.
“The conditions today are not representative at all of the picture of the performance,” Vasseur asserted. He believes that Ferrari’s performance from Friday morning to Q2 provides a more accurate representation than the race day conditions. Despite acknowledging McLaren’s superior position, he reiterated, “The real picture of performance is Friday and Saturday.”
The McLaren team’s early dominance has contradicted predictions of a neck-to-neck contest in the final season under the existing rules. Yet, Vasseur remains optimistic about a tight battle materialising in the upcoming races. “The expectation is always to do the best that we can,” he emphasizes, adding, “Today we didn’t do the best job but we will start from scratch in China.”
The Ferrari chief acknowledges the fluctuating dynamics of the previous four races involving McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari, each claiming victory once. He stressed that adaptability to weekend conditions, tyres, and track temperature is crucial for performance. “The fight is tight and if you don’t adapt the car to the weekend, the tyres, the track temperature, you are out of the range of performance,” he explained, hinting at a different scenario in the next race.
This ongoing debate about McLaren’s perceived advantage adds a layer of intrigue as the F1 season unfolds. As Ferrari disputes Charles Leclerc’s suggestions and Red Bull points out McLaren’s “quite strange” lead, all eyes will be on the upcoming races. The thrilling, unpredictable, and ever-changing world of Formula 1 continues to keep fans on the edge of their seats.