Ferrari scored just eight points last time out in Monza on a weekend they hoped Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc could fight for the win; watch every session of the Spanish Grand Prix at a new track in Madrid from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1 Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur says his team will head to this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid with “all the energy” to bounce back from their “failure” at Monza. There were big expectations for Ferrari at their home event after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were quick in Friday practice, only to miss out on the front row in qualifying before a dismal race on Sunday. Hamilton dropped from fourth to 10th after going side by side with Leclerc at the first chicane, going through the gravel at Turn 2, which he was unhappy with. Then Leclerc had a huge crash on the third lap which wrecked the car and left the Monegasque driver with initial eye issues.
Hamilton was up to third at one point in the race but lacked outright pace and finished sixth behind both Mercedes, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and both McLarens. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “We will come to Madrid with all the energy that we need to do a good result,” said Vasseur. “It’s true that Monza, for us, even if I spend the week to say that it’s a normal race, it’s not, as you can imagine. With all the Tifosi, we were expecting to give them something else as a big thank you for the support and the enthusiasm that they have.
“We all have the feeling to have failed something, but be sure that we will come back much stronger.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Ferrari introduced their second and final engine upgrade of the season but were still slower than the Mercedes-powered cars on the straights. Straight-line speed has been Ferrari’s biggest weakness, something which will not be an issue around the new twisty Madrid circuit, and Vasseur says he was “not expecting” to make up the power-unit deficit to Mercedes. “When you have a lack of pure power, then you start to play with deployment, to try to compensate in the straight line,” he said. “But if you deploy more somewhere, for sure you will deploy less somewhere else.
Then you are going in the wrong spiral to try to play with this when you are fighting. “Honestly, it’s not about deployment. Even McLaren, they were playing a little bit Friday and Saturday morning. In the end, we are missing pure power.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player After the first Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) review earlier this year, Ferrari were deemed to be more than four per cent behind benchmark engine manufacturer Red Bull.
It meant Ferrari could make two engine upgrades this year, and also for 2027, when the Scuderia will have a new engine. “The process of the engine is mega long. The chassis you can make an upgrade from one day to the other very quickly and come back into the pace,” said Vasseur. “On the engine, the process is mega long because the lead time of the parts is long and the cost cap is not easy – you have to produce the engine for the season.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “And if you want to start to do the development, you have to produce a new batch of engines. We are not expecting to recover with ADUO 1 or ADUO 2. We are doing small steps. “If you make a small step on the engine, keep in mind that behind us, it was hundredths of a second.
In terms of position, even if you make a couple of horsepower, it’s a good step on the grid. Now we will have a new engine next year. For sure, the target is to catch up as soon as possible.” Thursday September 102pm: Drivers’ Press Conference5pm: Paddock Uncut Friday September 118.50am: F3 Practice10am: F2 Practice12pm: Spanish Grand Prix Practice One (session starts at 11.30pm)12.55pm: F2 Qualifying2.40pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference3.45pm: Spanish Grand Prix Practice Two (session starts at 3pm)5.20pm: F3 Qualifying6.20pm: The F1 Show Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Saturday September 1210am: F3 Sprint11am: Spanish Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 11:30am)1.10pm: F2 Sprint2.15pm: Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying build-up3pm: SPANISH GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*4.55pm: F3 Feature Race 16pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook Sunday September 138.40am: F3 Feature Race 210.20am: F2 Feature Race12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Spanish GP build-up2pm: THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX4pm: Chequered Flag: Spanish GP reaction5pm: Ted’s Notebook *also on Sky Sports Main Event Formula 1 heads to Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring circuit, with every session live from this Friday on Sky Sports F1.
