Ferrari will have been disappointed with their showing at the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend. Charles Leclerc came home fourth, and Carlos Sainz was fifth.
Both drivers gained two spots during the race after qualifying down in sixth and seventh. It was the first time all season that the Scuderia had failed to get one of their cars in the top four.
A tenth and a half separated five drivers as Fernando Alonso grabbed third ahead of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and the two Ferraris. McLaren were ‘worried’ about how they’d perform in Shanghai, and Norris expected the red cars to breeze by in the race.
But as it turned out, the Woking outfit boasted the better package, and Ferrari fell 44 points behind Red Bull in the standings. Max Verstappen took the race victory, with Sergio Perez third behind Norris.
Leclerc was running in the podium places during the final stint but Perez ultimately proved too fast. All of a sudden, Ferrari’s one-two at the Australian Grand Prix last month feels like a distant memory.
Red Bull have brought them back down to earth since with a couple of commanding performances in Japan and China. The gap between the two remains significant.
Fred Vasseur identifies one big positive for Ferrari after Chinese Grand Prix
Speaking to Sky after the race, team principal Fred Vasseur called for perspective even though Ferrari under-performed in China. Leclerc and Sainz have scored five podiums between them so far, more than half of last year’s tally (nine).
He also pointed out that Ferrari are ‘way ahead’ of Mercedes, having finished behind the Silver Arrows in the 2023 championship. The gulf between the two already stands at 99 points.
“If you compare where we were a year ago, we are in much better shape,” he said. “I don’t know how many podiums there were, but probably as many as in the season last year.
“We have won a race, we’re way ahead of Mercedes, so a much better start than a year ago. But today I’m mainly focused on what happened here and would have liked to have done a better job.”
It was another tough weekend for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in China. The former finished second in the sprint but could only manage ninth in the race after a disastrous qualifying, and the latter finished 15 seconds behind the lead Ferrari of Leclerc in sixth.
Ferrari plot ‘massive’ upgrade package
For Ferrari, the key now is the development of their SF-24. Red Bull introduced their first significant upgrade package last time out in Japan, and they are due to respond in Imola next month.
The upgrade will be more valuable than initially expected, likely delivering around two and a half tenths of extra lap time. While that alone may not bridge the gap to Red Bull, they may at least be able to put them under more concerted pressure as Leclerc hopes.
But Vasseur and co. will also be wary of the threat posed by McLaren. They made more progress than any other team in 2023, starting at the back end of the midfield before becoming a regular podium finisher in the second half of the season.
It will naturally be difficult to find the same amount of lap time from a much stronger baseline. But Damon Hill reckons that they’re on course to catch Red Bull quicker than anyone else.
Realistically, Ferrari have little hope of winning this year’s world championship, just as they would have expected. They’ll want to put themselves in the best possible position for the start of 2025, when seven-time world champion Hamilton arrives.
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