The Prancing Horse has uncanny records when it comes to the Sprint race weekends. At a time when the usual weekends have hardly been impactful for them, the extended version as in the Sprint weekends has certainly been the opposite. After some rare but positive results by Ferrari on Sprint Weekends, Team Principal Frederic Vasseur recently mentioned that he would only return when F1 goes to Qatar, the fourth Sprint race venue this season.
Last Sunday on track before the summer break 😎 #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/EkR9DVgFwc
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 30, 2023
To put things into perspective, the Italian team could claim only three podiums this season. Interestingly, all three podiums have come in three Sprint race venues. The first one was in Azerbaijan, the second one in Austria, and then the third one in Belgium.
Furthermore, Charles Leclerc also claimed pole position for the first time in 2023 at Baku, followed by P2 at Red Bull Ring. And there was a pole once again for Leclerc as Max Verstappen took the grid penalty at Spa Francorchamps. Now, Vasseur after seeing the constant success at Sprint race weekends, joked that he wants to be back only in Qatar.
Frederic Vasseur wants to return to Qatar after a longer summer break
Vasseur, the Prancing Horse boss has recently joked about having a prolonged break during a press conference. According to Racingnews365, he said, “I’ll come back in Qatar!”
He went on to add, “You can have different explanations for this, and the first could be that we have better preparation than some of our competitors [when it comes to Sprint weekends and then reduced practice].”
Good morning, #Tifosi 🥰 pic.twitter.com/HBF8V5U3aS
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 31, 2023
Followed by this, the Frenchman emphasized the characteristics and similarities of the Sprint race tracks such as Baku, and Spa. According to the calendar, F1 returns by the last weekend of August in the Netherlands. But for the Reds boss, his time will come in October.
The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix will host the next Sprint race of this season. It will be the fourth on the calendar and will take place in the first week of October, this year.
Other than Sprint, how Ferrari performed in general?
Keeping aside the Sprint race weekends, the Scuderia Ferrari looked in off form. And most importantly and unfortunately, they could not clinch any podium or pole position in the other nine race weekends, leaving aside the race wins.
The 2023 performances by Ferrari have been nothing but a disappointment for the fans. From back-to-back mistakes by the drivers to the same let-off by the strategic team, woes seem endless for Tifosi.
The Prancing Horse were the runners-up last season and had almost hand one hand on their trophy. But now, they are in P4, struggling to cope with the top 3. Amid this, McLaren might be on their neck in about a few races.
