Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur lashes out at Qatar circuit

Matte reds, and in the crosshairs ends the runway.

Ferrari in trouble in Qatar, with Charles Leclerc fifth and Carlos Sainz even 12th after qualifying at Losail. It was a situation that had been factored in at Maranello, but what team principal Frederic Vasseur put in the crosshairs were in particular the many track limits that affected a potentially decisive Friday for the 2023 Formula 1 season.

"We already knew that in Qatar it could have gone this way – Vasseur complained to the microphones of 'Sky Sport' -. But for F1 it is not è a good figure to see two times cancelled for track limits, it is not; for television and è bad even to see it from the race wall. Even for us it becomes complex to handle situations like that. And here it was soè even two years ago".

For Vasseur, moreover, the problems will continue through the rest of the weekend in Qatar. "Looking ahead to the race, I am concerned,” explained Ferrari’s team principal. “There could be strong gusts of wind, which would make it very complicated to manage the 5 cm that the drivers need to stay within the limits of the track. So it will become crucial to have the information in real time, so we can turn it over to our drivers. But I can imagine how hard it is also for the race director, who has to control 20 cars. Before homologating a track one should think about these things" as well.

Vasseur è finally dwelt on Ferrari’s delay: "We are not surprised, we expected not to be in great condition here. Too bad, becauseé from Verstappen we are 6 tenths short, which we lose in only two corners, 3 in turn 1 and 3 in turn 13. The main problem l'had Sainz, who did not have the tires ready for Turn 1. But the first or second row was reachable, doing a better job was possible".