Vasseur: Ferrari "didn't come to do that" in Australia

While Friday's free practice had suggested a good start to the season for Ferrari, Australia no longer smiled on the Team from the qualifications. Charles Leclerc, although fast, only achieved the seventh time and his new garage neighbor, Lewis Hamilton, the eighth. "The result is negative, Frédéric Vasseur assumed after the race at the Canal+ microphone. We didn't come here to do that. Firstly, in qualifying we didn't put everything together, even though I think we had a much better pace than we showed." The Maranello team had hoped to make up for lost time in the race thanks to good management of the external conditions... But that was not the case.

Bad strategic decision in question for Vasseur

As predicted, rain was present today in Melbourne, which sometimes surprised the teams, in addition to other racing incidents. "Today's strategy wasn't easy, and we made the wrong decisions in the end, we mustn't turn a blind eye, confessed the French leader. We tried to stay on track like Max, to survive on slicks when it started to rain because we wrongly thought the downpour would last less time. The gamble didn't work, we lost." Indeed, for a brief moment, while several single-seaters were called back to the pits, Ferrari saw wings grow, before the downpour intensified.

Stay the course for the remaining 23 races

Frédéric Vasseur is not the type to dwell on a defeat, it is only the first race of the season. "Well, now there are 23 races left in the season and we have to look aheadhe recalled. The pace we showed on Friday, whether on a qualifying lap or on long runs, was good, and that's what we need to build the season on. Not on a strategy choice that wasn't the right one at the end of the race." The Team Principal of the Prancing Horse stable prefers a dynamic of feedback, rather than "to try to blame someone."

Vasseur wants to understand in order to learn

Ferrari is not the only one to have tried to stay on slick tires in the rain. Red Bull made the same bet, which actually worked for Max Verstappen who finished second in the exercise. "We need to try to understand what went wrong in our decision-making system, Vasseur analyzed on Canal +. I think it's more of a judgment call based on how long the rain is going to last. The gamble was good, but we had to come into the pits a lap before, like Max." The Scuderia boss remains optimistic and is focusing on the next Chinese match, which will take place from Friday, March 21.

🎙️ »We made the wrong choices»

Difficult start to the season for Ferrari: Charles Leclerc is 8th, Lewis Hamilton 10th ❌#AustralianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/0IWz68SZTp

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) March 16, 2025

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