Fred Vasseur is confident Ferrari will learn from “a misunderstanding” during the British Grand Prix that resulted in it being “scared” of a repeat of its early-season form.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished ninth and 10th respectively at Silverstone after starting the race fourth and fifth, and seemingly in a position to challenge the front three of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
It was a result Vasseur naturally conceded he was far from happy with, notably pointing to the fact it had no long-run data to draw upon going into the race, in particular, as Leclerc was consigned to the garage for the entirety of second practice due to an electrical issue with the SF-23.
Holding fourth position in the race, Leclerc made a surprisingly early stop after just 18 laps, switching from the medium to the hard compound as Ferrari was convinced it would suffer from degradation of its rubber as experienced earlier in the season.
That was despite the fact tyre manufacturer Pirelli introduced more robust constructions at Silverstone.
Insisting there would be “a deep look” into the decisions taken, Vasseur said: “We didn’t do the long stint on Friday.
“We launched this compound (new tyre construction), Charles was in the garage, and we were scared of the deg.
“Probably somewhere in our minds we had the first races of the season, so we were far too conservative on the tyre management and we didn’t push enough. Honestly, I think we could have pushed much much more.
“But it was a misunderstanding on the deg. This came from (the lack of information on) Friday, not from the race.”
The Scuderia’s result was further undermined by a safety car, notably for Sainz who had pitted six laps prior to it being summoned to aid marshals clear Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.
Ironically, Vasseur feels Ferrari has at least been taught a valuable lesson, with the positive now that it knows it has the ability to lean more on its tyres, and that it should no longer be concerned about potential degradation.
Asked whether he at least felt Ferrari was going in the right direction, he said: “It’s difficult to say you did a good job when you finish nine and 10.
“Overall, it’s true that we had much less deg, which was our main issue at the beginning of the season, and that was not the case (at Silverstone).
“We had a lack of pace compared to Mercedes, but not a lack of deg. The pace is probably because the car was a bit unstable with the wind.
“We knew before that Silverstone could be a difficult one for us but where we lost out the most was with (not understanding the) deg and a safety car.”
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