Fred Vasseur has admitted Ferrari’s failure to extract its full one-lap potential in qualifying cost it a potential Formula 1 victory at the United States Grand Prix.
Ferrari looked like the team to beat heading into qualifying after topping all three practice sessions in Austin, but the Italian outfit disappointed when it mattered most in Q3, leaving Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton only fourth and fifth on the grid.
Leclerc demonstrated impressive race-pace as he charged to a second-place finish behind Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Hamilton fell just a second short of challenging Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the final spot on the podium.
Vasseur acknowledged that Ferrari “missed something” when it came to the all-important final runs in qualifying.
Charles Leclerc finished second in Austin
"The weekend went well and everything is working well as expected on the package,” Vasseur said.
“The issue is that we did all the laps, from the first laps of FP1 to the last lap of the race, in good shape. Except the last two laps of Q3 on both cars, and it's probably where we missed something.”
It was not the first time this year that Ferrari has looked good in practice, only to flatter to deceive when it comes to qualifying.
“I think what is true is that with the cars or the tyres, the window is very narrow, and as soon as you are a bit out, quickly you lose two or three tenths. And today in F1 [in] the top eight, two or three tenths can be a sixth position,” Vasseur added.
“It means that you can move from the super result to nowhere for gust of wind, or you slide a little bit too much in the out lap, or you have to slow down, as we had the case in Madrid, you have to slow down a little bit, don't stick to your pace in the out lap, or whatever, the impact is huge.”
Vasseur admits Ferrari has to improve in qualifying
Vasseur continued: “For sure the pace from the beginning when we put the car on track on Friday morning, to the last lap of the race, the pace was there.
"What we have to pay attention is that competitiveness is not just about the package; it's also the fact that sometimes set-up, tyre management, you are in the right spot, and you are doing a good weekend. And sometimes not.
“And if you have the package when you are not in the right spot, you can also have the feeling that it's not working.”
There have been suggestions in the paddock that this trend comes from Ferrari having a strong baseline car that hits the ground running more often than not, while its rivals can take a few sessions to get up to speed.
“I think at least on this weekend, it was true for everybody,” Vasseur said. “Probably Kimi did a step also, because you can also imagine that he was not on the right spot before, and he put everything together for Q3.
“But I think the other seven cars, except Hadjar, probably the other six cars took a step back. The fastest lap of Charles was in Q2. For sure we didn't do the perfect job in Q3.
“That this is true for us, for everybody. But we have to put together all the parameters to try to have a better understanding of the situation. And I think all the teams we are improving step-by-step on this.
“But it's so marginal that sometimes a gust of wind, you are sliding a little bit, you overheat the tyres for details, sometimes you can be out of the spot. If you don't put everything together, you can move from P2 to P6.”
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