Ferrari Formula 1 boss Frederic Vasseur believes that the team’s strong showing in the Japanese Grand Prix shows it has got its tyre degradation woes “under control”.
Vasseur’s maiden season at the helm last term proved troublesome from the outset as Ferrari battled with an unpredictable car that proved too susceptible to the wind.
But while the Italian marque progressed to score the sole non-Red Bull win of the season, converting encouraging one-lap pace into similar race results eluded it often.
However, Ferrari has succeeded in its endeavour to assemble a more compliant SF-24 charger which has been lighter on the Pirelli rubber than its flawed predecessor.
Despite starting fourth and eighth on the grid at Suzuka, Carlos Sainz maintained Ferrari’s 100 per cent podium streak this season in third, with Charles Leclerc behind.
“Honestly, I think that everything went very well on Sunday,” Vasseur reviewed. “The strategy was the good one for both cars, depending on the position on track.
“Tyre management was under control, the pitstop went well, the pace was OK. I’m really convinced that we did a good Sunday.
“If we have to change something, it’s more the Saturday that we have to improve than the Sunday. But it was a good job and a good teamwork.”
Leclerc was able to execute a remarkable one-stop race – taking the Hard compound 27 laps – to beat McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had qualified third, to fourth place.
Regarding Leclerc’s management, Vasseur noted: “Yes, but it went well with both sets. When you say the first stint, it’s after the second start [the red flag restart]
“But both stints went very well because we pitted also quite early.
“I think the last stint was something like 30 laps with the Hard and it was quite ambitious if you have a look at what Mercedes did.
“But honestly, we had a very, very low deg and I don’t know if we were able to do 20 laps more, but I don’t think so.
“But it was still under control and we had the possibility to extend a little bit, but then it was more a matter of tyre management, position management and so on.”
Meanwhile, Sainz extended his second stint to have an advantage in the closing laps, which he utilised to surge past both Norris and Leclerc to claim another podium.
Asked if the race provided confirmation Ferrari is on the right track, Vasseur said: I think from the beginning of the season we are much better on the tyre management and degradation.
“We were able to do the fastest lap in Jeddah and Melbourne on the last lap. It was almost the case today for one-tenth, I think.
“I think we did a very good step forward on this one. We worked a lot on our weaknesses and we improved massively on the tyre management, drivers, strategy and the team.
“For sure, but now we have some other weaknesses and we have to improve somewhere else, for sure, if we want to do a better job.”
However, Vasseur has warned that Ferrari’s past degradation problems could recur and the onus is on the squad to manage its prospects on a race-to-race basis.
“I think this one is very well under control now,” he continued. “What is true one day is not true the other day on the tyre management.
“We don’t have to consider that this is done. Next week in China we’ll have another tarmac, different weather conditions and it will be a new challenge.”
Ferrari had been tipped as the strongest team in the practice race runs, but third-placed Sainz would up 20 seconds behind Max Verstappen, who led a Red Bull 1-2.
Asked whether he agreed with suspicions that higher temperatures in the race aided Red Bull, he added: “I think in China we will have the opportunity to test it in colder conditions.
“I don’t know because we did only FP3 in colder conditions. I’m not sure that we were in a better shape. You never know about the engine setting, level of fuel and so on.
“The deg was under control for us on Saturday but also for them. It was almost the same one today.”
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