Ferrari pressure will force Red Bull 'mistakes' – Vasseur

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur believes Carlos Sainz's emphatic Australian Grand Prix is proof that the Italians can put Red Bull "under pressure", when they operate smoothly.

Similarly to in last season's Singapore Grand Prix, Sainz ended Max Verstappen's winning streak, which stood at nine races prior to last weekend's trip to Melbourne's Albert Park Circuit.

Despite having undergone an appendectomy just 16 days ahead of the race, Sainz put in the performance of a lifetime to lead home Ferrari's first one-two since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Verstappen retired in fiery fashion following a brake-related issue, whilst Sergio Perez secured a lacklustre fifth.

The Maranello-based outfit showed stunning pace throughout the weekend, whilst Red Bull showed their first true glimpses of being breakable. Unsurprisingly, the confidence is building at Ferrari.

"That is a huge part of the results in your business," Vasseur told select media including RacingNews365. "And I think we are building up the confidence in the last month, but it was already the case in the last part of the season last year.

"And this weekend, I think it's good evidence that when we are putting everything together, and I'm not sure that we'll be able to do to do it every single weekend, but when we're putting everything together, we can put them a little bit under pressure.

"And it's when they are under pressure that they will make mistakes, that means that we have to continue in this direction."

Ferrari building

Following their mesmeric Melbourne performance, Ferrari sit just four points behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

The SF24 is a car that the side clearly understand better than its predecessor, having looked comfortable with their package since pre-season testing.

Vasseur added: "We are much, much more confident in the fact that we can manage these kinds of events because from lap one day one, we were there with the performance and it was quite smooth.

"So it's in this situation that we are going to have the best car for the Sunday."