Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has revealed his frustrations after his side struggled in the opening two races of the season. The 54-year-old has urged his team to be honest about where they are and acknowledge that there is a need to change.
Vasseur’s remarks come after both Ferrari drivers had a poor race in Saudi Arabia this past weekend. Carlos Sainz finished in sixth despite starting fourth on the grid. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc finished seventh from 12th on the grid.
Both Ferrari drivers finished more than a whopping 30 seconds behind race winner Sergio Perez. And not just that, both Sainz and Leclerc were also slower than both Mercedes drivers, a team that is facing struggles of their own.
Fred Vasseur urges Ferrari team members to get back to reality
Fred Vasseur has made his stance clear on Ferrari’s current situation. He believes that the team cannot ‘****shit’ themselves that they are doing well and that they need to acknowledge that there is a need for change.
When asked what he would tell his engineers, Vasseur replied (according to motorsport.com), “We have to change. We have to understand where we are wrong, and we have to push. It’s not [good enough] to speak, we will not be faster like this”.
The 54-year-old added that while he felt that the potential of the SF23 was ‘good’, they are still nowhere close to Red Bull Racing. As for Mercedes, Vasseur believes that his team lost to the Silver Arrows at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix because his drivers were on the hard tyre at the end.
While Vasseur was extremely critical of his team’s performance during the race, he did highlight some positives from qualifying. The French motorsports manager said that Ferrari made a step forward in qualifying as they were only one-tenth off the pace of Red Bull Racing as compared to Aston Martin and Mercedes, who were more than three-tenths off.
Ferrari currently in fourth in Constructors’ Championship
After finishing second in the Constructors’ Championship last year, Ferrari’s gap to the top seems to have increased all the more. The Prancing Horse are currently fourth in the championship with just 26 points after two races.
The team is 12 points behind both Aston Martin and Mercedes and a whopping 61 points behind reigning champions Red Bull Racing. A similar scenario is also seen in the Drivers’ Championship.
Charles Leclerc is currently eighth in the championship and just has six points to his name after a devastating DNF in Bahrain and a seventh-place finish in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz is currently fourth after a fourth-place finish in Bahrain and sixth in Saudi Arabia.
After a disappointing two opening races, Ferrari will hope that the third time when the cars hit the circuit they have a better race. Round three will take place in Australia from March 31 to April 2.
