Charles Leclerc, Ferrari team driver, showed his skills at the Japanese Grand Prix, impressing Ferrari’s Formula 1 team boss, Frederic Vasseur. Vasseur believes that Ferrari has made significant progress in high-speed corners, which was evident in their strong performance in the race. Carlos Sainz, another Ferrari driver, ensured that the team maintained its perfect podium record this season. Additionally, Charles Leclerc’s single-stop strategy allowed him to overtake McLaren’s Lando Norris and secure fourth place, solidifying Ferrari’s position in second place in the championship. Norris had initially benefited from McLaren’s experience in high-speed corners, but Ferrari’s improvement in this area with their SF-24 car was evident. While Ferrari had been far behind the race winner the previous year, Sainz finished just 20 seconds behind Max Verstappen this time.
Vasseur expressed his satisfaction with Ferrari’s progress in high-speed corners, stating that they have made a significant leap compared to last year. He also acknowledged that there are still areas where the team needs to improve, such as tire management. However, Vasseur believes that overall, Ferrari has made decent progress compared to Red Bull’s performance at the same time last year. The team’s goal is to put pressure on Red Bull and force them to make mistakes. Although this was not evident in the Japanese Grand Prix, Vasseur hopes that Ferrari will be able to achieve this in the future.
Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull, attributed his team’s success in the race to the increase in track temperature. However, Vasseur rejected the idea that Ferrari would have been more competitive against Red Bull if the track temperature was lower. He mentioned that the next race in China, which is expected to have cooler conditions, will provide an opportunity to test this theory. Vasseur also emphasized that various factors, such as engine settings and fuel levels, can influence a team’s performance, making it difficult to determine the exact impact of track temperature. He noted that both Ferrari and Red Bull experienced similar tire degradation during the race, suggesting that track conditions did not significantly favor one team over the other.
