What exactly happened to Ferrari during the Chinese Grand Prix? We could have sworn that they would make it to the podium in Shanghai. However, both Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc failed to do so both during the sprint and the main race. At least in the sprint race, Lewis Hamilton scored some much-needed points by coming second.

The team that has consistently had podium finishes has now been dethroned by McLaren with Lando Norris beating not only the Ferraris but one of the Red Bulls too. But why did Ferrari have such a difficult time during the Chinese Grand Prix? Team Principal Frederic Vassuer came forward to discuss the complications the prancing horses faced during the Chinese GP.

Ferrari’s reasoning for not getting a podium at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix

The F1 circus returned to Shanghai after 5 years of not driving in China due to the pandemic. After the immigration rules were eased out, China opened its gates to re-host the Chinese Grand Prix. This means, that none of the teams got a chance to properly test the track in the last half-decade, leading to an unexpected race. The track’s conditions were less than optimal according to almost every team, but Ferrari was one of the teams that couldn’t optimize their output.

Explaining why Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz “No one has ever tested this track and the situation was the same for us. It is true that the asphalt problem may not have helped us, but that is not an excuse. We made mistakes. mistakes in the preparation phase and others did better. It’s up to us to work to do better next time.”

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Frederic Vasseur spoke of their main rival, the Frenchman said, “Max is sometimes faster, but there are always six or seven cars that are within half a tenth or a tenth at most. It’s a question of details and you can go from hero to zero.” He came forth to explain what all the other teams faced while driving in Shanghai saying, “There were too many mistakes, from everyone, and we didn’t exploit the full potential of the car.”

Vasseur pinpointed where they lacked during the Shanghai races

Neither Sprint nor the race went according to Ferrari’s liking with Charles Leclerc finishing at P4 and Carlos Sainz at P5 for Sprint and main race as well. Ferrari has been coming in at podiums and after looking at their performance this weekend. Their position in the constructors championship might be compromised if McLaren continues to show such results.

Many believe that the car needs more work to be more competitive and Vasseur shut these rumors down by saying, “It’s not about improvements, it’s about exploiting the potential of the car and we [Ferrari] didn’t do it this weekend.” The SF24 is a great car when it comes to gaining speed and doing high-speed maneuvers, but one of the places it lacks is in the slow-turning department.

Vasseur explained the strategy during the race saying, “Starting behind conditions you for the race because even if you are faster, if you don’t overtake straight away, you stay behind and you consume more tires. If something goes wrong, it’s qualifying.” This plan of trying to get an early advantage has worked for Ferrari in all the previous races, but the unknown conditions of the track made it difficult to do so.

Looking at this performance, do you think Ferrari will be able to maintain their P2 place in the pecking order? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.