Ferrari have the ingredients and need to get cooking, says Vasseur

JEDDAH: Ferrari have got all the ingredients for Formula One success and need to keep calm and follow the recipe after a slow start to the season, according to team boss Fred Vasseur.

The hungry Italian team, without a championship since 2008, have yet to reach the podium in four races with Charles Leclerc and newly-arrived seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix won by Australian Oscar Piastri and champions McLaren was their best team effort yet, however, with Leclerc finishing fourth and Hamilton fifth.

In China two races earlier, Hamilton won the Saturday sprint but both he and Leclerc were disqualified from the main Sunday race for technical reasons.

In Japan, the race before Bahrain, Leclerc finished fourth and Hamilton seventh and in the Australian opener in Melbourne they were eighth and 10th respectively.

“The ingredients are all there, but now it’s like cooking, and you have to put the ingredients together at the right stage,” said Vasseur ahead of the Saudi Grand Prix at Jeddah’s Corniche circuit.

“Honestly, I don’t have the feeling that we’ve extracted the best from the car so far, or perhaps on some occasions, some sessions.

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“But I’d say it’s true for us and for the others. Even McLaren, with the step they have compared to the rest of the grid, sometimes you have one of their cars that is struggling a bit more. It is what it is.”

Vasseur pointed to the closeness of the competition, with rules stability before a big shake-up next year and at least four teams capable of winning, punishing the slightest of mistakes in qualifying.

“Then the conclusion from outside is that it’s a drama. We’re more focused on pure performance … ” he emphasised.

“That means we need to stay calm in the analysis if we want to improve. I think it was one of the skills of the team last year to be able to capitalise hundredths of a second at a time. I hope we’ll follow the same path this year.”

Ferrari, runners-up to McLaren in 2024, last won a drivers’ title with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and the constructors’ in 2008.

McLaren have so far won three of four races and taken the same number of pole positions and fastest laps, with Lando Norris three points clear of Piastri.

Leclerc is fifth overall with 32 points, Hamilton seventh with 25.

“I think we are two to three tenths off (McLaren),” said Leclerc this week. “Similar to Mercedes, maybe Mercedes slightly ahead.”

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