Ferrari drivers looked on their way to sealing places on the first and the second row of the starting grid for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix. However, the dying minutes of the qualifying session kept throwing surprises. One after the other, four drivers placed themselves between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. While that is a concern Ferrari need to address, there is another on Frederic Vasseur’s mind that can ruin their race on Sunday.
The Ferrari team principal, as per @JunaidSamodien_ on X (formerly Twitter), said, “What scares me is a DRS train, but tomorrow we can play with the strategy and have opportunities. If you look, everything is so tight, but in two-tenths, you have six cars.”
Vasseur’s worry is a legitimate one if we take the example of the sprint race from Saturday. As Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton comfortably placed themselves in P1 and P2 respectively, the battle for P3 raged on until the last lap.
The reason simply was the DRS train behind Hamilton. Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and Charles Leclerc were all within one-second distance of each other. Ultimately, Perez broke the stalemate with a double overtake on the two Spaniards to take the final step on the podium.
There is, however, one factor that can play in Ferrari’s favor. In a positive turn of events from last year, their 2024 car possesses a superior race pace. That could come in handy for the main race, provided there is little to no rain.
In that scenario, Sainz and Leclerc could beat both McLaren drivers and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso ahead, and hold off the threat from Mercedes. A podium finish will most likely please team boss Frederic Vasseur. A race win, meanwhile, seems unlikely unless a bizarre occurrence with the Red Bull duo changes the scenario.
Red Bull clear favorites but Max Verstappen is far from happy
Max Verstappen, surprisingly, missed out on the sprint pole position as a rain-hit SQ3 placed him in P4. The Dutchman, however, made up for the deficit in dry conditions on Saturday by winning the 19-lap race by 13 seconds.
Later, he claimed the pole position for the main race during the traditional qualifying format. However, the reigning champion was not too thrilled with the performance of his car.
Dutch journalist Erik van Haren quoted Verstappen as saying, “I don’t base my feelings on an advantage. I want to feel it myself.” The three-time champion made the comments after the conclusion of the sprint race. Van Haren claims the stern feedback led to some extensive work carried out on his car before qualifying for the main race.
The Austrian team will anyway not sit easy anytime soon. That is because of the upcoming upgrade packages for their rivals. Ferrari claims to make some crucial ground with their upcoming package scheduled to feature in Imola. Similarly, McLaren are ready to introduce some extensive changes as well, as the season progresses.
