“We'll have occasions to win races”: Ferrari boss confident of giving Red Bull a run for their money in 2024 F1 campaign

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur believes the team could win several races and challenge Red Bull in the 2024 F1 season.

After a mediocre season in 2023, the Italian giants looked much better in 2024. In the pre-season testing and first race at Bahrain, they were the second-fastest team on the grid, behind defending world champions Red Bull.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, Vassuer initially recalled Ferrari's qualifying prowess in the latter stages of the 2023 F1 season. He also explained how the tire degradation in Bahrain prevented them from taking the top spot in qualifying.

“We have 24 races. If you compare last year, the last third of the season we did five pole positions out of the last seven races or something like this.”

“Between that, it's a very long season. You have room for development. [During qualifying] we were able to fight for the pole but the [tire] degradation in Bahrain is always huge for everybody.”

Vasseur concluded that Ferrari could close the gap to Red Bull by taking several pole positions and race wins in 2024.

“It means that we'll have other occasions to start from pole and also occasions to win races. We will keep this approach, we will continue to push. Everybody in the team is over-motivated. I'm quite pleased with the step that we did compared to 12 months ago and I will continue to push.”

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz finished third at the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP. The Spaniard drove brilliantly and even received the Driver of the Day award from fans. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished fourth.

Last year, Ferrari finished third in the Constructors' Championship with one win to their name.

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Carlos Sainz faced a similar issue as his Ferrari teammate at the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP

Carlos Sainz recently revealed that he also faced a brake overheating issue during the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP, something that his teammate Charles Leclerc also suffered from.

When asked by Sportskeeda about Leclerc's brake issue, Sainz admitted:

“I don't know the level of severity he had but for me it was at one point pretty bad too. It's something that you cannot discover in testing because in testing you never put yourself in 10 laps consecutive behind four cars getting all the hot air from the four cars in front and the brakes never cool down. I tried not to panic. I tried to put the side that was more heated, and I took a different line on the straights to cool them down,” he said.

Both Ferrari drivers, especially Leclerc, locked up on several occasions during the Bahrain GP. Due to this, the Monegasque lost several places during the first half of the race.