Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur: Sepang – a glimmer of hope?

Can Ferrari put pressure on championship leaders Mercedes again in the coming races? The Scuderia is the main challenger to the Silver Arrows in both world championships, but suffered a dip in form in Baku: Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, Charles Leclerc fourth.

Ahead of the race in Malaysia, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said: “Sepang is a circuit that presents very different challenges to the tracks we’ve raced on recently. The demands on the car and the driver are high, and changing conditions can play a significant role over the course of the weekend.” The Sepang circuit features the famous long double straight with its hairpin bend. The weather in Malaysia is oppressively humid, hot and changeable. Rain showers, and even thunderstorms, are the order of the day. The city is currently shrouded in a haze of humidity and smoke from fires on neighbouring islands.

Competitiveness alone is not enough

Vasseur: “As we’ve seen in recent races, the field is very close, and competitiveness alone isn’t enough. It’s crucial to get all aspects of the weekend right. We need to stay focused and make the most of every opportunity that comes our way to achieve the best possible result.”

Is Sepang better than Baku?

After the race in Baku, Vasseur had announced that the circuit in Malaysia was likely to suit the Ferrari better than Azerbaijan. Vasseur: “Probably more so than in Baku. I think Baku is the most difficult circuit of the season for us. If you look at how sensitive the engine is, Monza and Baku are the two extremes. And then there’s Singapore, a circuit where we can perform better than we did this weekend.” The race there takes place a week later.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Vasseur said: “We’ll be bringing upgrades and keeping the pressure on right up to the final corner. I don’t know whether that final corner will be in the Middle East or elsewhere, but we’ll be keeping the pressure on right up to the final corner.” He is alluding to the still unclear situation surrounding the venues for the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Speaking of the Middle East – the race in Malaysia is, after all, taking place under the name Bahrain Grand Prix, because the Bahrain race originally scheduled for April is now being rescheduled to take place in Malaysia in early October.

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