Fred Vasseur has revealed Ferrari's confusion in a disastrous
Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying after Charles Leclerc's crash and
Lewis Hamilton's early exit. Ferrari had shown strong pace
throughout practice in Baku, topping FP2 with Hamilton ahead of
Leclerc, and reinforced that in FP3, but things went wrong in
qualifying. The team split tyre strategies in the second segment,
with Leclerc taking mediums and Hamilton softs, but a mistake at
Turn 1 from Leclerc brought out yellow flags, which forced Hamilton
to abort. Eventually, Hamilton was eliminated in 12th with Leclerc
knocking his team-mate out, as the Monegasque continued his bid for
a fifth straight pole. A contender, Leclerc then crashed at Turn
15 in Q3, leaving Ferrari with its cars 10th and 12th on the grid.
Reflecting on the session, team principal Vasseur detailed how
there was some confusion over the tyres, with the medium rubber
favoured by some being the C5 soft tyre of 2024, with the soft this
year being the all-new softer C6 compound. "It is a lot of
frustration, because from the beginning of the weekend, we've had a
strong pace over one lap and in the long runs," Vasseur told Sky
Sports F1. "Conditions were for sure a bit different this
afternoon, windier, with gusts, and it was also cooler, but at the
end of the day, it was the same for everybody, and it is not an
excuse at all. "We struggled to put everything together, and I
think the pace for Charles was decent. He was on a decent lap when
he touched the wall, but it is what it is. "We have to be focused
on the race. We had good long stints in practice, but for
everybody, the pace was consistent. Last year, Norris was able to
come from the back, so we need to be focused on this. "The fuel is
why we aborted lap one [with Hamilton], and that means you are not
fueling the car to do 10 laps, so we needed to push, and the tyres
are a bit confusing for everybody. "At the end of the day, pole
was on softs, and Carlos was second with scrubbed mediums, so
everyone is in the same situation, but I think it was more
[important] to put the tyres in the right window rather than the
choice of tyre."
Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying after Charles Leclerc's crash and
Lewis Hamilton's early exit. Ferrari had shown strong pace
throughout practice in Baku, topping FP2 with Hamilton ahead of
Leclerc, and reinforced that in FP3, but things went wrong in
qualifying. The team split tyre strategies in the second segment,
with Leclerc taking mediums and Hamilton softs, but a mistake at
Turn 1 from Leclerc brought out yellow flags, which forced Hamilton
to abort. Eventually, Hamilton was eliminated in 12th with Leclerc
knocking his team-mate out, as the Monegasque continued his bid for
a fifth straight pole. A contender, Leclerc then crashed at Turn
15 in Q3, leaving Ferrari with its cars 10th and 12th on the grid.
Reflecting on the session, team principal Vasseur detailed how
there was some confusion over the tyres, with the medium rubber
favoured by some being the C5 soft tyre of 2024, with the soft this
year being the all-new softer C6 compound. "It is a lot of
frustration, because from the beginning of the weekend, we've had a
strong pace over one lap and in the long runs," Vasseur told Sky
Sports F1. "Conditions were for sure a bit different this
afternoon, windier, with gusts, and it was also cooler, but at the
end of the day, it was the same for everybody, and it is not an
excuse at all. "We struggled to put everything together, and I
think the pace for Charles was decent. He was on a decent lap when
he touched the wall, but it is what it is. "We have to be focused
on the race. We had good long stints in practice, but for
everybody, the pace was consistent. Last year, Norris was able to
come from the back, so we need to be focused on this. "The fuel is
why we aborted lap one [with Hamilton], and that means you are not
fueling the car to do 10 laps, so we needed to push, and the tyres
are a bit confusing for everybody. "At the end of the day, pole
was on softs, and Carlos was second with scrubbed mediums, so
everyone is in the same situation, but I think it was more
[important] to put the tyres in the right window rather than the
choice of tyre."
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