Team principal Fred Vasseur: That will be the big challenge for Ferrari

In the Zandvoort Sprint, Charles Leclerc managed to secure second place after the Ferrari star had to start the fifth mini-race of the year from third on the grid. For his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, the sprint proved considerably more difficult; the seven-time world champion started in seventh place and finished in the same position.

The Ferrari engineers managed to set up the red racer for the Grand Prix qualifying session in such a way that the record-holding Grand Prix winner was happier with it. He was indeed the faster of the two Ferrari drivers in the battle for the starting grid for the main race. 64 thousandths separated him from his Monegasque team-mate, who was right behind him on the timesheet.

However, it was only enough for fifth and sixth places; Hamilton missed out on pole by more than three tenths, whilst Leclerc was almost four tenths off the fastest time set by Lando Norris in the McLaren. Team principal Fred Vasseur admitted as much: “To be perfectly honest, we’re looking back on the Grand Prix qualifying session with mixed feelings, as I’m a little disappointed with our performance. Given the pace we showed in the Sprint qualifying and the subsequent Sprint race, I would have expected a slightly better result.”

“But it was a difficult session,” the Frenchman admitted. “We were always right on the limit, and the rain that set in made things even more difficult at the end. Perhaps we could have done a better job,” he sighed, whilst also emphasising: “The race is still to come and we’ve saved a fresh set of tyres, which is obviously an advantage.”

When asked who Ferrari’s main rivals would be, the engineer joked: “The others. It’s really difficult to make a prediction, because we’ve seen big differences in performance even between team-mates.” He knows what the major challenges will be in the 72-lap race: “The start will certainly be difficult and choosing the right strategy is tricky too,” he explained.

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