Frederic Vasseur has criticised the rivals’ approach to race starts: here are his words.
It was supposed to be Ferrari’s major advantage, but in the end it turned out to be only a decent strength, nothing more: Ferrari’s decision to focus on starts, due to safety-related considerations, was practically neutralised by the measures introduced on the matter at the beginning of the season.
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, spoke about the issue and did not hide his disappointment regarding the measures introduced by the FIA ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
Frederic Vasseur’s comments
“I went to the FIA one year ago and we talked about starts. We discussed it in the SAC (Sporting Advisory Committee) and in the PUAC (Power Unit Advisory Committee). I really appreciated the FIA’s response: you have to design the car according to the regulations, not the regulations according to the car. I think that’s a very fair approach,” Fred Vasseur said in an exclusive interview with The Race.
As Vasseur explained, the question Ferrari asked itself while designing the SF-26 was simple: is it better to gain a small advantage over a qualifying lap, or risk losing several positions at the start? The engineers’ answer was unanimous: better starts were more important. That is why Ferrari opted for a smaller turbocharger, sacrificing some power in favour of stronger launches off the line.
“But then we found ourselves with half the grid, 40% of the grid, complaining that it was very dangerous and so on… Politically, it was a well-played move, but not a very fair one.”
“I understand [the reason for the changes to the start procedure] for safety reasons, but the other option would have been to ask those cars to start from the pit lane if they believed it was unsafe.”
“For us, it was also a design choice. We developed an engine following certain criteria and, somehow, they changed the rules at the very last moment.”
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
