After Ferrari’s outstanding performance in Australia last weekend, reports from Italy emerged that the team will bring updates to the next race in Japan instead of Imola as previously planned. However, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has refuted these reports.
In an interaction with TG1 (as quoted by Formula Passion), Vasseur said, “We won’t have any updates in Japan. It’s too early. The task is to understand the car well and get the most out of it. And we still haven’t done it”.
The Frenchman’s remarks seem interesting as Ferrari just managed a fantastic 1-2 finish in Melbourne. Carlos Sainz won the race after taking the lead from Max Verstappen, who ended up retiring due to an issue with his car’s brakes. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc finished second to give Ferrari their first 1-2 since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Although Ferrari were dominant in Australia this past weekend, they didn’t demonstrate such a strong pace in either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. It is perhaps for this reason that Vasseur believes that the Italian outfit still need to understand their car better before they bring in upgrades.
Having said that, Vasseur does believe that “the SF-24 is easier to drive and understand its behavior”. The 55-year-old believes that, unlike the SF-23, the SF-24 “doesn’t give surprises” and that the tires also wear less.
If Ferrari don’t bring their upgrades to Japan, they are likely to bring them to Imola as previously planned. The Emilia Romagna GP will take place in May and will start the series of European races. This could be a decent venue for Ferrari to bring upgrades and keep the pressure on Red Bull.
Should Ferrari’s brilliant performance in Australia worry Red Bull?
The way the Australian GP unfolded this past weekend, it did seem that the grid has converged. Red Bull no longer seemed to hold the advantage they had over the course of the entire 2023 season.
Although Max Verstappen was able to clinch his third consecutive pole of the 2023 campaign, he failed to pull away from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. In fact, the Spaniard even managed to overtake the Dutchman on the race track on the second lap before the Red Bull driver retired from the Grand Prix a lap later.
These could be worrying signs for Red Bull as their domination could be under serious threat. However, Charles Leclerc believes it is too early for Ferrari to seriously believe that they have a chance of fighting the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Irrespective of how the races ahead pan out, the championships are finely poised after the first three Grands Prix. Red Bull just has a four-point lead at the top from Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.
Similarly, Max Verstappen’s lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship has also reduced to just four points from second-placed Charles Leclerc. With the top four drivers separated by just 11 points, this year’s championship could prove to be an enthralling one.
