Ferrfari looked like it could fight for big things in the World Championship after a great end to the 2024 season and pre-season testing. The Tifosi were convinced of the Italians’ success, based on what they saw and what was coming out of the team. But the track has hit the team hard, and it seems to have lost all chance of doing anything significant this year. The latest race at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was confirmation that they were unable to perform even at home, quite the contrary in fact.
Ferrari disappoints
Imola was supposed to be the stage for Ferrari to redeem itself, but it was quite the opposite. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both failed to make it through Q2 in qualifying, finishing outside the top 10. Team principal Fred Vasseur did not hide his concern after the weekend:
“The problem is that we were much slower in qualifying yesterday, and we started from P11 and P12. The weekend is difficult, but the recovery was good. Today was a good race, with a very well-executed strategy and good pit stops,” he explained.
“Everything went well. I think Charles was a bit unlucky with the timing of the safety car, but there’s nothing we can do about that. In the end, we just have to improve our qualifying pace, because when you start from P11 and P12, everything becomes much more complicated,” added the Frenchman.
Vasseur no longer hiding
Although things improved somewhat in the race, helped by incidents and safety cars—with Hamilton finishing fourth and Leclerc sixth—Vasseur was blunt about the level of the car:
“I don’t think we have the best car. Even when we’re in good shape in the race, we’re not faster than McLaren. We’re probably there, but not fast enough. What is clear is that in the last three or four races we have always had much better pace in the race than in qualifying,” he acknowledged.
Vasseur insists that it is essential to focus on one-lap performance for qualifying, something that will be even more important at the Monaco Grand Prix.
“There’s a bit of frustration for us. We definitely have to put all our effort into this. Next weekend, in Monaco, Saturday afternoon will be almost decided. We have to have much more performance on Saturday. Monaco is probably a bit different in terms of tire management, but we have to do a much better job next Saturday.”
Ferrari saved the weekend
In the race, Ferrari managed to save the day thanks in large part to the safety cars. Hamilton came back with an aggressive hard tire strategy, while Leclerc, on medium tires, had to give up his position to Alex Albon after a maneuver that could have cost him a penalty. Vasseur explained the team order:
“Wewere clearly at risk. With five seconds (penalty), Charles would have been tenth or eleventh. We had the feeling that they were leaning more towards the penalty. That’s why we asked him to give way. I was a little surprised that there were more overtakes than expected. When it’s so difficult to overtake and you only have one corner to do it, it’s all or nothing at that point.”
At Ferrari, they are well aware that things are going much worse than expected. At the start of the year, they were seen as rivals to Red Bull and McLaren, but they have not been anywhere near them so far. The gap is widening, and it seems impossible that they can turn the situation around. Now they head to Monaco, a slow-corner circuit that suits the current performance of the car, or so it is supposed.