Yahoo Autos F1’s pecking order changes every race, says Ferrari’s Vasseur
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes there is no clear pecking order among the top four teams this season and is not overly concerned by the Scuderia’s performance in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Victory in Monaco for Charles Leclerc was followed by both drivers failing to reach Q3 or finish the race in Canada, but Ferrari recovered to lock out the third row and finish fifth and sixth in Spain. With both Mercedes drivers in front, though, and Max Verstappen and Lando Norris some 20 seconds ahead, Ferrari wasn’t in the mix for victory but Vasseur says small details on each track change the picture significantly.
“We were 5 thousands off the Mercs [in qualifying], I think it’s a gust of wind or something like this, and they were 40 seconds behind us in Monaco two weeks ago,” Vasseur said. “That means that before we draw any conclusions like this, we have to stay calm.
“We have to take event by event. I think next week it will be a completely different format, different tarmac, different type of corners also, and we will have another picture. Probably the picture will be completely different, favorable to us or not [I don’t know], but the picture will be completely different next week.
“Nothing is forever in F1 today. I’m not sure that over the last 10 years in F1 you can find four consecutive events with four different guys on pole position and four different teams. It means that it’s not crystal clear that one is better than the other one.”
Vasseur is also not viewing the Monaco victory as a one-off example of form having been close to winning in Imola, too, and he says the gaps in outright performance in qualifying are small enough to be overcome by set-up and track conditions.
“If we are winning in Singapore, Baku, Monaco and so on, it is not that bad, but on the other hand, I think we were a couple of times in the first four too. I am not sure that you can say today that there is a clear order of the grid. We will see next week.
“Perhaps next week you are right that it is clear now that the order is like this. But it will be like this also until the next upgrade or next modification. Or even next week you will have a low-speed corner and the week after we are at Silverstone…
“I think there is much more in the characteristics of the car fitting with the high-speed corners or with the components than on the pure potential when you have four teams within two tenths.”
