Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur rued a costly qualifying session that hurt Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s chances in the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
Sainz crashed out of the Q3 top-10 shootout bringing out the red flags and resigning him to 10th on the grid.
The red flags put pressure on Leclerc to deliver in his sole Q3 run, but his time was deleted for track limits, placing him ninth on the grid.
From there, Ferrari could only manage fifth and seventh in Sunday’s race and Vasseur spoke on how costly Saturday proved to be.
“Friday we were in a better shape than fifth and seventh, so it means that we missed something during the weekend, it’s clear,” said Vasseur.
“But when you start in Singapore ninth and 10th, you know did something wrong on Saturday.
“It’s not the Sunday that we have to learn something. It’s more than to do a better job on Saturday.”
Vasseur said that “the result of the weekend is not the one expected,” no doubt disappointed given Ferrari took victory in Singapore last year.
Ferrari missed an opportunity in the F1 Singapore GP
Moreover, Vasseur highlighted Monza, Baku and Singapore as points of opportunity for Ferrari.
Leclerc was victorious in Italy and runner-up in Azerbaijan, but Ferrari fell below expectations last weekend.
The Monegasque driver said Singapore represented a missed opportunity, saying Ferrari ‘paid the price’ for qualifying.
Vasseur agreed, saying, “Until Q2 we were on the pace with [race winner] Lando [Norris] and we didn’t do a lap in Q3 with two cars.
“It means that then we have to start from ninth and 10th and in Singapore, it’s almost done.”
Still, despite the disappointment of qualifying, Vasseur credited Ferrari with using good strategy throughout the F1 Singapore GP.
“The result of the Sunday is a good one,” he said.
“It’s a good race. We had a strong pace, a good start for Charles. Carlos was a little bit on the dirty side and a bit blocked, but then a good strategy, a good pitstop with tyre management in the line of the last couple of events and I think we can be pleased with this now.
“It’s probably the best that we could achieve today, perhaps we could get George [Russell]. But it was the maximum.
“We have a couple of weeks to prepare the last six and to be ready for Austin.”
Ferrari enters the Autumn break third in the Constructors’ standings with 441 points, 34 behind Red Bull and 75 behind leaders McLaren.
READ MORE: Charles Leclerc: Ferrari ‘paid the price’ for Singapore F1 qualifying setback
