Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur admits that “we didn’t extract the best from the car” during the Singapore Grand Prix on what was a “mega frustrating” weekend for the Scuderia.
Drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were only able to come away with P6 and P8 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the latter having suffered severe brake problems in the final laps and given a post-race penalty for cutting several corners due to the issue.
Vasseur admitted that both drivers were struggling with brake overheating from as early as Lap 2 in the 62-lap race, and that as a result their performance took a hit.
“Very early in the race we asked Charles to do a lift and coast,” he said. “It’s not just a matter of doing a lift and coast when you’re losing a little bit at the end of the straight. It’s also to find the right braking point.
“In all the races that we were a bit more, a bit less, a bit more, a bit less, a bit more on the rear, a bit more on the front. You had to change the brake balance. At the end, you lose probably more on the reference for you when you are driving the car than on the pure potential.”
As at previous races this year, both Ferrari drivers had shown promising pace in Friday practice before an underwhelming Qualifying performance left them on the backfoot, with Hamilton P6 and Leclerc P7 on the grid in Singapore.
“What is mega frustrating is that the last two weekends we came in… Baku and then Singapore. At the beginning of the weekend, the pace was there,” said Vasseur.
“We didn’t extract the best from the car, I think, honestly. We are doing 29.7s in Q1 yesterday and 29.7s in Q3. We are struggling at the end of all the races not to be at the back foot.
“For the team, it’s mega frustrating. The team and drivers are for all of us, because we are not pushing [because of the brakes]. At the end of the day, we are putting so much effort to be there, that when you have to do all the races on the backfoot, it’s not good.”
Hamilton was able to gain the fastest lap of the race in the closing stages having made a second pit stop for fresh soft tyres and was chasing Antonelli down for P5 before his major brake problems.
“It’s a fake fastest lap for me. We are not in the same situation. What I can say is that when he was pushing, the pace was there,” added Vasseur.
“The gap with the cars in front of him was coherent with the delta that you have on the tyres. But nothing more than this. It’s also frustrating for us, because we had the feeling that when we did three laps in a row without saving, that the pace was not bad.”
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