Scuderia Ferrari HP Team Principal and CEO Fred Vasseur says that the team’s performance in qualifying for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park was not what they were expecting.
Obviously, we can’t be satisfied with today’s qualifying result. We didn’t look too bad in Q1 and Q2, as we were one to two tenths off the McLarens. However, in Q3, we didn’t do a good job because we didn’t manage to run at the same pace as our opponents, and as a result, we find ourselves in positions that do not reflect our true potential.
Tomorrow’s race could be a completely different scenario, as our pace was good yesterday and the forecast is for rain. The points are handed out tomorrow, and we must do a good job now, preparing every last detail. I really believe we have the potential to bring home plenty of points.
Charles Leclerc starts the race from seventh and speaking following the action he commented saying:
The lap wasn’t great; all in all, we just didn’t have the pace today. We mainly struggled with the balance of the car and putting it all together, so we have some work to do. We expect rain and tricky conditions for the race, so we will give it everything and see what’s possible.
Lewis Hamilton ended his first qualifying session with Scuderia Ferrari HP in eighth place and speaking following the action the seven-time Formula One world champion said:
isn’t quite where we wanted to be, but overall, I’m satisfied with the progress we have made over the past two days. We didn’t expect to be eight or nine tenths behind pole, but given this is a weekend of firsts for me, I didn’t underestimate how steep the learning curve would be.
Charles has more experience, of course, but I’m building confidence with the car and learning how to unlock its potential. Now we will get our heads down and try to find out how we can close the gap.
Tomorrow is going to be a challenge, especially as I’ve not driven this car in the wet, but we will be giving it all we can to have a positive first race and be up there.