It is inevitable that Ferrari are dealing with this criticism. After Leclerc and Hamilton certified eleventh and twelfth at their first dwelling race of the season in Imola, Leclerc described the workforce as being “P-nowhere”.
Each drivers have bemoaned the shortage of upgrades. The primary of those for the reason that fourth race in Bahrain lastly arrived in Austria final weekend, and each drivers agreed they have been a step ahead, however that it could take time to evaluate how a lot. Extra are coming.
However, Vasseur insists the automobile is healthier than the workforce have proven in latest races.
“The preliminary aim was to struggle for the championship,” he mentioned in Canada, “however I believe it is true for us, it is true for McLaren, for Purple Bull, for Mercedes. We’re all on this temper to struggle for the championship at the start of the season.
“When you examine with expectations, in all probability McLaren is one step forward in comparison with everyone. And we did not do a very good job on our aspect.
“Simply talking about us, we did not do a very good job, in a few races.”
He factors out that, after each automobiles have been disqualified in China, they have been 60 factors behind Purple Bull and 40 behind Mercedes two races into the season. Now, they’re second within the constructors’ championship. On the flip aspect, they’ve almost half the factors of McLaren.
Vasseur describes this as “an honest restoration”.
The very fact Ferrari have a stronger mixed driver line-up than Purple Bull and Mercedes is mirrored in the truth that, regardless of their place within the constructors’ championship, Leclerc is fifth within the drivers’ – behind each McLaren drivers and the lead drivers from Purple Bull and Mercedes.
“McLaren are nonetheless one step forward,” Vasseur says. “It means we have now to proceed to attempt to do a greater job every day and enhance.
“You need to put the whole lot collectively in the precise place if you wish to obtain a very good end result in the present day, as a result of within the tyre utilization and the tyre efficiency, or what efficiency you get from the tyres, I believe there may be way more than between the automobiles.
“The automobile would not matter. If the workforce is doing an excellent job on the tyres, they are going to be in entrance. It will likely be like this till the tip of the season. But it surely’s the identical for everyone, we have now to do a greater job.”
As for Hamilton, he sees this as a constructing 12 months for 2026, when new guidelines usher in revised automobiles and engines and Ferrari count on to be combating on the very entrance.
He has usually not been particularly snug with the kind of automobiles launched with the 2022 laws, which demand a distinct driving model from those who got here earlier than. Subsequent 12 months’s automobiles are completely different in design once more, and might be completely different in driving character, too.
“The very fact is with this automobile hopefully we will nonetheless struggle for second within the constructors’ championship,” Hamilton says. “That will be nice.
“However I desire a automobile that may win subsequent 12 months. So that is the precedence. That is what we have come right here to get.”
