Ferrari concluded the remaining qualifying session of the 2024 Method 1 season for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by securing third place with Carlos Sainz and final place with the penalized Charles Leclerc.
The Spaniard was the one one to problem the 2 McLarens and, if not for a mistake on the remaining nook, might have positioned himself between the 2 MCL38s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, complicating their race greater than it’d now with the present grid.
Charles Leclerc, nonetheless, had his greatest Q2 lap time deleted and was eradicated, ending in 14th place. A ten-place grid penalty for introducing his third battery pack of the season did the remaining: tomorrow, the Monegasque will begin final, making a comeback to battle for the Constructors’ Championship—absent from Maranello since 2008—virtually unattainable.
After the official classes at Yas Marina, Ferrari’s crew principal Frédéric Vasseur spoke to *Sky Sport Italia*, discussing the end result of the ultimate qualifying session of the yr and outlining Ferrari’s method for tomorrow’s race.
How is the environment within the Ferrari storage after qualifying at Yas Marina?
“There’s a distinct temper on the 2 sides of the storage. Carlos had a superb qualifying session, combating for first place on the finish of Q3 and lacking the entrance row as a consequence of a really small mistake on the final nook. But it surely doesn’t matter; we’ll battle. Beginning second or third doesn’t change a lot—we’ll battle till the final nook. With Leclerc, the state of affairs is completely different. Earlier than the session, we knew the best-case situation was ranging from eleventh, however then he went barely broad at Flip 1 in Q2, and that’s the way it went.”
Will you alter Charles Leclerc’s engine earlier than the race?
“Actually, I don’t suppose there’s a major benefit in altering the engine—a minimum of, not sufficient to justify placing in a brand new one.”
You’ll be hoping for a chaotic race, whereas McLaren will need a easy one…
“Sure, that’s true. We’ll race in opposition to McLaren with Carlos the identical method we’ve got to date. However we gained’t do something drastically completely different simply because it’s the final race of the season. Perhaps with Charles, we’ll contemplate a distinct technique to keep away from getting caught within the midfield site visitors.”
Does beginning third as an alternative of second change a lot?
“Perhaps there’s a slight distinction in grip on the suitable aspect in comparison with the left aspect of the grid. However as I stated, there’s not a giant distinction between the 2 positions. What’s vital is the place we’re after the primary nook and the tip of the primary lap.”
Tomorrow, attaining your purpose shall be very troublesome…
“Even earlier than coming to Abu Dhabi, it was already very troublesome on paper. After the penalty, it’s change into extraordinarily troublesome. Nonetheless, it’s not unattainable as a result of we will’t predict what is going to occur. We’ll battle till the final nook of the final lap and don’t have any regrets.”
At this level, are you able to afford to take extra dangers?
“Sure and no, as a result of crucial factor continues to be to attain sufficient factors to change into champions. We are able to’t take too many dangers as a result of we by no means know what would possibly occur with McLaren. To this point, they haven’t had any retirements or incidents. You possibly can by no means know. We want to verify we rating sufficient factors to change into champions, after which we’ll see.”
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