Fred Vasseur (Ferrari): “Very difficult situation” / Formula 1

The Chinese weather gods were not kind to the Formula 1 drivers: As if the return to Shanghai was not already a big challenge due to the five-year break and the race format, the rain in the final part of the qualifying race also did their job. The most difficult team and pilots.

Not every driver was able to heat the coolant sufficiently on wet pavement; The latter had a very difficult time and went off the track during his first race in SQ3. The Monegasse were able to continue, but they continued to struggle.

Team boss Fred Vasseur summed it up: “The conditions were very difficult in the last part of qualifying and we really had problems getting the intermediates up to working temperature, but that was probably the case for everyone. We will analyze the data and see what we can learn from this rainy period.

The Frenchman is sure that the track made the drivers’ job more difficult. At least: The team doesn’t expect more rain during the sessions, as Vasseur insists. “The forecast for Saturday looks good. But of course we expected a bit of a difficult start, as we have not been here for a long time and now we are here for the first time with the current generation of cars.

“We are a bit in the dark and the asphalt raises some questions, but I think we are moving in the right direction and I hope that we can benefit later from the fact that we were able to save a set of medium hard tires. We will try to get points in the race and then focus on the race on Sunday , because then many championship points will be distributed,” revealed the engineer.

Sprint Qualifying, China

01. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:57,940 minutes
02. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1:59,201
03. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, 1:59.915
04. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 2:00,028
05. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, 2:00.214
06. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 2:00.375
07. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 2:00,566
08. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 2:00.990
09. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber, 2:01.044
10. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber, 2:03,537
11. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, 1:36,345
12. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:36.473
13. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, 1:36.478
14. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Bull Racing, 1:36.553
15. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:36,677
16. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, 1:37,632
17. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, 1:37,720
18. Alex Albon (T), Williams, 1:37,812
19. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, 1:37,892
20. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, 1:37,923