F1 News: Fred Vasseur insists Ferrari star could have beaten Red Bull in Bahrain

Fred Vasseur, Ferrari, Bahrain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Vasseur insists Ferrari star had chance to BEAT Red Bull in Bahrain

Fred Vasseur felt Ferrari were going to achieve more from the front row in Bahrain

Shay Rogers

Sunday 3 March 2024 16:57

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Fred Vasseur leaves Bahrain disappointed after Ferrari failed to fully capitalise on a front row start at the season-opening race.

Charles Leclerc was impacted by brake woes during the race, steering his broken ship to a somewhat impressive fourth place.

Carlos Sainz secured an impressive podium, running his own race and remaining unphased by those running around him.

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But things could’ve been better for the Scuderia, who arguably lost out on the chance to secure a double podium finish to open the season.

Charles Leclerc endured a tough Bahrain Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz secured Ferrari's first podium of 2024 in Bahrain

Fred Vasseur leads Ferrari for a second year in 2024

Vasseur wanted more from Bahrain

Ferrari boss Vasseur discussed how he had hoped for more before Saturday’s race, where they had looked close to matching Red Bull in practice’s long runs.

“We are expecting probably better,” he told Sky Sports. “Starting from the first row, race pace was ok with Carlos but with Charles it was much more difficult, that we had an issue with the brakes from the beginning, the first 20 laps.

“I’m quite happy with the job done by Charles, because at the end I think he saved P4, it was good points for him and the team. And Carlos did a fantastic job because he was able to match with Checo.

“We knew that we had a different strategy with Red Bull on the tyres and if there was an opportunity [to pass] it was at the end of the stint and overall he [Sainz] did a very good job because he was always focused on the optimum for us and didn’t care about the others.”

There’s a tight turnaround before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix next week, where Ferrari will be hoping to close the gap to Red Bull as they begin to understand their package more.

High-speed circuits haven’t typically played to their strengths, with rivals McLaren in a better position to challenge in similar scenarios in 2023, but this is a new season and the Maranello based outfit have made progress over the winter.