Frederic Vasseur spoke to the press at the end of the three-day test in Bahrain, with the next stop in Australia for the first race.
Two weeks are left until the first race of the Formula 1 season. A championship that promises to be thrilling and decided by mere tenths, perhaps even hundredths. The tests in Bahrain revealed a competitive McLaren, while Ferrari will need to work on finding the right balance for race pace.
Frederic Vasseur addressed the issue and, when interviewed by the press, made the following statements: “It’s difficult to have a clear read of the situation here in Bahrain since conditions changed a lot from day to day and from morning to afternoon, it felt more like being in Las Vegas than Bahrain. Over the last six months, we’ve worked very hard on this car, and we’ve made good progress, but we’ll have to wait until we’re all on track in Melbourne to understand where we stand.”
The Frenchman then added: “If we look at the hierarchy from previous years, what we saw in Bahrain didn’t exactly repeat itself in the qualifications a week later, even when running under the same conditions. We want to fight for both championships, we know we have two drivers who can do it, and the mood in the team is very positive. We will continue to work hard to be ready in two weeks for the start of the season.”
On a potential return to the V10, Vasseur stated: “It’s still too early to discuss regulations regarding the engines we’ll have from 2031. We haven’t even introduced the next generation of engines yet, and there are still some huge questions on the table about the topic. We should focus on this aspect first. I’m sure we’ll discuss the future, but right now, we need to focus on the next generation of engines.”
