Vasseur details strange Ferrari SF-23 characteristic

Frederic Vasseur has detailed Ferrari's Formula 1 inconsistencies in understanding the Pirelli tyres as the team look to turn their fortunes around.

Hopes of a title push in 2023 have been dashed owing to the drop-off in performance of the SF-23 over a race stint compared to qualifying, where Charles Leclerc took the only non-Red Bull pole of the year thus far in Azerbaijan.

After a disappointing Spanish Grand Prix weekend where the team's only result was Carlos Sainz coming home in fifth, Vasseur explained how the squad are trying to get to the bottom of this difference in performance on a Saturday and Sunday.

Vasseur's Ferrari problems

"You can't compare Miami and Barcelona in terms of layout, tarmac and energy on the tyres, but I would say that the global picture is the same," Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"We are there in qualifying, and we are not there in the race. We are still inconsistent on the same car between compounds and sometimes between the same compounds.

"We have 1,000 people [working] on this now and it is very difficult to understand and to fix it because it's not always the same.

"It's true that in qualifying, you are in free air and in the race you are not. I think Charles struggled a lot in the first stint [in Barcelona] as he was a lot closer to the car in front of him.

"The main issue for us is not the potential on the lap on [high-speed] corners, the main issue is the inconsistency.

"On Charles' car for example, between the first and third stints with the same compound (the Hard tyre), one the balance was out of place, and the last one was okayish, and with Carlos, he did a decent first stint, and in the middle, he lost 15 or 20 seconds."

A step forward

Ferrari brought a sizeable upgrade package to Barcelona, featuring revised sidepods that echo the Red Bull concept, and Vasseur believes that progress is being made.

"We made a step forward in terms of potential," Vasseur said.

"In qualifying pace at least, we were able to put Carlos on the front row which is probably a step forward, and in the race, you could consider we made a step forward to Aston Martin, but it's not enough as we still have a huge delta performance to Mercedes, qualifying to race.

"We have to put all the focus of the company to come back and have a good race on Sundays and score points."