Ferrari had a decent weekend in Bahrain after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished the race in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Looking over the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, team principal Fred Vasseur gave his thoughts on the team’s performance so far and urged the team to stay focused on the next race weekend and not get distracted.
The Maranello-based squad suffered a dismal season opener in Australia after its drivers brought home a mere five points. While the Chinese Grand Prix weekend was initially better with Hamilton scoring in a Sprint win, the weekend turned upside down as the prancing horses were disqualified from the Grand Prix on Sunday.
With the Japanese Grand Prix being a better place for Ferrari, the team seemingly started to get its foot down and recorded a P4 and P5 finish. However, not letting the team get driven away with an upbeat weekend, Fred Vasseur insisted that the team remain focused as the triple-header is not over yet, and said (via X/@JunaidSamodien_):
“Over these few days in Maranello, we’ve continued to work hard analysing the data, and we want to approach the Jeddah race with the same objective. We must stay focused on ourselves, as that is the best way to try to extract the maximum from the package at our disposal and make steady progress to close the gap that still separates us from those ahead in the standings.”
Lewis Hamilton scored his first win with Ferrari in any format at the Sprint race in China, but has been a few tenths off Leclerc’s pace in the Grand Prix on Sundays.
Lewis Hamilton reveals the intricacies of switching stables after never having driven a Ferrari-engined F1 car before
With Hamilton having spent the majority of his F1 career in Mercedes-powered F1 cars, a switch to the Italian giant meant a lot for him to adapt to. This translated to getting in the groove with the new engine and learning about its intricacies.
The 40-year-old revealed about the differences that he had to cater to with a Ferrari-engined F1 car, and said (via Racing News 365):
“I have never used engine braking before, for the past 12 years, we never used engine braking, but here we use it a lot in the car. The brakes are so much different to what I had in the past, they move around a little bit more and in the last stint, I had to use the rears to turn the car, but then at other times, you have to put all your weight on the fronts.”
Due to a suboptimal start to the 2025 season for Ferrari, the Italian giant sits fourth in the constructors’ standings, behind McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull.
alt=”Geetansh Pasricha” height=”72″ width=”72″>
Edited by Aayush Kapoor
