Frederic Vasseur explained the reasons that led to the decision to end the qualifying session (with Leclerc) held yesterday in Sakhir early.
With the first set of soft tires Charles confirmed his second position at 0”113 from poleman Verstappen. A very encouraging response for Leclerc, but while he was awaiting the assault on the final with the last train of softs, the Monegasque got off the car, without returning to the track. Shortly after it was learned that it was a choice made by the team, and today Vasseur explained the reasons.
“Overall qualifying went a little better than expected – commented the Scuderia team principal – perhaps we could have fought for pole, or finished the session in third position even if we had gone out on track. We made a decision before the session started, evaluating many scenarios, including the one that took shape after the first ‘run’. In a race that promises to be tough in terms of tire management, it seemed an advantage to be able to keep a set of new softs and start from third place, a position which on this track is not bad considering that it is on the clean side of the track and you have a lot of meters to go before reaching turn 1”.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Erik Junius
It was striking that the Monegasque raised no doubts. “When I saw the time he printed with the first set, I was afraid he might take it badly – Vasseur clarified with a smile – instead he limited himself to saying ‘okay, are we sure?’, and after the affirmative answer he got out of the car without problems. It was important to talk about it before qualifying, to involve him and Carlos in the various decisions, a strategy was linked to each scenario.”
“When we talked about it with Charles he was the first to say ‘okay’, and it’s much easier to calmly talk about it in the briefing than to explain decisions when he’s in the car. With Carlos it was not possible to implement this strategy, because if had he returned to the track with the time obtained with the first set he could have lost three or four positions ”.
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