Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has expressed his support for Charles Leclerc in overcoming his recent struggles in Formula 1 qualifying sessions. Despite having an impressive record of 23 pole positions, Leclerc has been unable to replicate his one-lap prowess in recent races. In the Australian Grand Prix, he qualified in fifth place, three positions behind his teammate Carlos Sainz, who went on to win the race. The trend continued in Suzuka, where Leclerc finished eighth, missing out on a podium position while Sainz started four places ahead. Leclerc himself was perplexed by his lack of pace in Japan, unlike in Melbourne where he attributed his performance to issues with his car’s balance. However, Vasseur remains unconcerned and believes that the situation has been blown out of proportion, emphasizing that the final classification does not tell the whole story. He pointed out that Leclerc’s subpar performance in Q1 affected their strategy for the rest of the qualifying session, and he is confident that Leclerc’s competitive nature and skill in one-lap qualifying will lead to a swift comeback.
Leclerc acknowledged after the race that he would use the break between rounds to analyze where he is struggling to find speed in his SF-24 car during a single lap. Vasseur, who has previously worked with Leclerc before his time at Ferrari, explains how the small margins this season have made his recent results appear worse.
“He is aware that he did not have a good qualifying session yesterday, and it’s hard to be happy when your teammate finishes in fourth place and you finish in eighth,” Vasseur said.
“But overall, we need to thoroughly examine the qualifying session. We missed out on Q1 and only had one set of tires for Q3, finishing just one-tenth of a second behind the second group.
“It’s not a disaster to be half a second or six-tenths off. There will be another opportunity next week.
“We will have two qualifying sessions in China [due to the Sprint weekend]. Two chances to perform well.
“But let’s not forget that he was consistently in the top four for eight consecutive races, from Singapore to Australia.”
Leclerc made a strong recovery in the grand prix, finishing fourth with an impressive one-stop strategy. He managed to make a set of Medium tires last for 26 laps before making a pit stop.
As Mercedes had to abandon their plan to pit both drivers, Vasseur commended Leclerc for successfully executing the strategy he suggested.
“I still believe that stopping in clean air was the best option,” he argued. “But for Charles, to maintain track position and avoid being caught in a fight, one stop was the better choice.
“The difference was not significant, but it depends on the situation and your position on the track.
“It’s a bit more challenging when you have to make one stop because you have to control everything and there is the temptation to push a little harder. But I think he handled it very well.”