Red Bull had a strong Friday in Bahrain as Max Verstappen led the way and secured the first pole position of the season. Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, however, is not worried about Verstappen and Red Bull repeating their 2023 dominance. Instead, he calls for all F1 teams to unite and force Red Bull into making mistakes as the season progresses.
Vasseur feels that the gap to the Milton Keynes-based outfit is not as significant as it was last year when they won 21 races out of 22. The Frenchman, however, admits that they still don’t know the true potential of the cars. But the data from pre-season and the first two days of official running suggests that Red Bull could be beatable.
Our first race of the season starts today. Let’s give it everything #BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/vDVfV6rzQN
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 2, 2024
“From what we have seen it seems that this year Red Bull will not have the margin it had last year,” he said as quoted by Formula Passion. “And perhaps more teams could put it under pressure when they are called upon to make particular strategic or set-up decisions.”
The likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston Martin are all believed to have made progress over the winter break. Together, if they all show a decent race pace, Red Bull could finally be under pressure. This is something that was rarely seen in 2023, except for the latter stages, a time when the title was already effectively sealed.
For the Bahrain GP, however, Fred Vasseur’s sole focus is Ferrari and its performance.
Fred Vasseur: Ferrari not looking to throw points away
Charles Leclerc finished P2 in qualifying and will start the Grand Prix right behind Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, starts P4. Vasseur expects both his drivers to focus on themselves and have a strong race. What he looks to avoid the most is mistakes, which became the team’s identity over the last two seasons.
During this time, Ferrari made several strategic and pit-stop errors. Moreover, they also had issues with reliability, as witnessed with Leclerc during last year’s race in Sakhir.
Vasseur: For the race we will focus first and foremost on ourselves: we need to check that the car is more consistent in tire management, as it seems so far, and we will see what we can bring home. The first objective is not to leave any points along the way.
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) March 2, 2024
Vasseur wants to avoid the same in 2024 and hopes to get off to a strong start. Although Verstappen remains the favorite to win the race, since it is the first race of the season, the paddock could be in for some big surprises.
