Sepang – Fred Vasseur has backed Ferrari’s tyre call for the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia despite Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc struggling on the damp track.
Ferrari bounced back to finish third and fourth in Malaysia despite lapping over 20 seconds off the pace in the opening exchanges.
Ferrari luck holds in Bahrain GP
Alongside Red Bull, Ferrari appeared to have the measure of championship leaders Mercedes in Malaysia.
However, after a chaotic formation lap resulted in a suspended start procedure, drivers were able to reevaluate their tyre selections for the official race start.
With the pit straight appearing dry to the eye, just under half the field elected to fit either soft or medium slick tyres, with the remainder running the green-walled intermediate.
The latter option proved to be the correct choice, with those on slick tyres losing over a pit stop worth of time on each of the opening laps.
“When you have to take your decision, you are trying to base the decision on good parameters,” said Vasseur.
“But for sure, at the end of the day, we have to be clear that it was not the right call, that it would have been much better for us to start with inter.”
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Ordinarily, the baking hot Sepang surface dries quickly once the rain stops, but it took far longer than expected on Sunday.
However, those who had started on slicks were granted a reprieve when Valtteri Bottas slid off the track and caused the safety car to be deployed.
Although this meant that intermediate runners could switch to slicks without dropping back, it closed the sizable margins between the two packs, a factor that was key in Ferrari’s recovery.
“Based on our feeling on the grid, I think 50% of the car went for slick, 50 for wet,” added Vasseur.
“You just have a look on the tarmac in front of you in the pit lane, and for sure it was not a good one.
“But no, it’s not that I have no regrets. For sure, it’s clear that it was better to start with the inter, but we did the choice with the information that we had.”
Asked if victory was within reach had Ferrari made the correct call at the start, he said: “Let’s leave this. I don’t know because the race is for sure different when you have to overtake 20 cars than when you have to run in front.
“I was not a mega optimist after lap one, yet you never know. Also, because of the dirty air, it’s much more difficult and energy management, and so that.
“But the pace was solid, and when Lewis was at the end of his stint with soft, he was still cruising in very good lap time.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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