In the first five races of the 2024 season, Ferrari has generally been stronger, winning the Australian Grand Prix with Carlos Sainz. But in the last race in China, McLaren’s Lando Norris did well, finishing second behind Max Verstappen.
In China, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Sainz finished fourth and fifth, their weakest weekend so far. When asked if Ferrari fell behind McLaren in China, Vasseur said the difference between the two teams is small. He thinks it’s about maximizing performance at each track and extracting the best from what they have.
“I think it’s a matter of a tenth or half a tenth,” Vasseur said. “In Melbourne for example, after 60 laps we finished the race eight seconds in front. It’s more a matter of extracting the best of what we have.”
Vasseur also mentioned that the tight competition means there hasn’t been a “normal” weekend to judge which team is ahead. The small details make a big difference.
“There is no normal weekend. It’s the beginning of the season, so we have the window that the whole is very, very tight,” he said.
He added, “And when you start from P9 the race is much more difficult because you have dirty air on the first laps, even if you are faster, but basically even if you are faster you struggle to overtake because if you don’t have the big gap, you damage the tire for the first 10 laps and then you are dead.”
Vasseur emphasized the importance of doing everything perfectly in such a competitive group.
