Frederic Vasseur has detailed the factors that brought an end to Ferrari's run of podium-scoring results during the 2024 Formula 1 season. The Italian squad appeared on the podium at every round this year before the sport's return to China, even scoring a 1-2 finish in Australia. However, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth in Shanghai respectively, with McLaren's Lando Norris joining the Red Bull duo inside the top three. The race got off to a lacklustre start as both Ferrari drivers were overtaken by George Russell through the first corners. But Vassuer explained to media including RacingNews365 that its concerns were rooted deeper than its poor opening lap. “It’s not a good help to lose a position at the start, but in the end, we were behind [Sergio] Perez and Norris at the stop and we finished behind them at the end of the race,” he said. “I think if we lose something, it's more in the last stint. Carlos was a bit unlucky with the timing of the pitstop because he pitted three or four laps before the VSC and then the safety car. “He was a bit scared to do a very long stint with the last set of Hards, he was a bit conservative at the beginning but he did very well to manage the long stint.”

Qualifying struggles

Leclerc and Sainz also endured a difficult qualifying session on Saturday which further aggravated its race day chances, lining up in sixth and seventh. “If we missed something it’s because we start from too far away on the grid, for sure,” Vasseur added. “This is more [Saturday] and [Sunday] we were a bit less performant on the Hard than on the Medium. “The Medium was under control and I think that we were in a good position of the other at the end of the stint on the Medium. But we lost a little bit of ground with the Hard.”

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