Ferrari concluded the ultimate 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 ultimate nook, may have positioned himself between the 2 MCL38s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, complicating their race greater than it would now with the present grid.
Charles Leclerc, nevertheless, 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 remainder: tomorrow, the Monegasque will begin final, making a comeback to combat for the Constructors’ Championship—absent from Maranello since 2008—nearly not possible.
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 strategy 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, preventing for first place on the finish of Q3 and lacking the entrance row because of a really small mistake on the final nook. Nevertheless it doesn’t matter; we’ll combat. Beginning second or third doesn’t change a lot—we’ll combat till the final nook. With Leclerc, the state of affairs is completely different. Earlier than the session, we knew the best-case state of affairs was ranging from eleventh, however then he went barely vast at Flip 1 in Q2, and that’s the way it went.”
Will you alter Charles Leclerc’s engine earlier than the race?
“Truthfully, I don’t assume 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 simple one…
“Sure, that’s true. We’ll race towards McLaren with Carlos the identical manner we’ve got to date. However we gained’t do something drastically completely different simply because it’s the final race of the season. Possibly with Charles, we’ll contemplate a distinct technique to keep away from getting caught within the midfield visitors.”
Does beginning third as a substitute of second change a lot?
“Possibly there’s a slight distinction in grip on the fitting 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 necessary is the place we’re after the primary nook and the top of the primary lap.”
Tomorrow, reaching your objective 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 not possible as a result of we will’t predict what’s going to occur. We’ll combat 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 an important factor continues to be to attain sufficient factors to change into champions. We will’t take too many dangers as a result of we by no means know what would possibly occur with McLaren. To date, they haven’t had any retirements or incidents. You possibly can by no means know. We’d like to verify we rating sufficient factors to change into champions, after which we’ll see.”
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