Fred Vasseur has urged caution regarding Ferrari’s prospects at the Chinese Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton claimed a surprise sprint pole. Hamilton defied expectations by beating McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, as well as Max Verstappen, to secure the top spot for the sprint, with Verstappen joining him on the front row. This marked Hamilton’s first sprint pole since the 2021 British Grand Prix and his first pole in any format for Ferrari.
For both Hamilton and Ferrari, this is a boost following a poor performance at the season opener. However, Vasseur remains cautious, pointing out that one practice session does not give a clear picture of the true pecking order. “It’s better than last week, but it’s still a bit difficult to read and understand one session to the other,” Vasseur told Sky Sports F1. “Sometimes McLaren has a huge gap, sometimes it’s quite small. We still have a lot of work to do.”
The positive takeaway for Ferrari is that despite struggling in Albert Park last weekend, Hamilton impressed in Shanghai. With a remarkable track record in China, Hamilton set a new lap record to secure the sprint pole, and Vasseur acknowledged the boost it has given both Hamilton and the team. “If you compare with last week when we struggled a lot in qualifying and the race, for sure it’s much better,” Vasseur added. “It’s positive energy for Lewis and the team. This is good, but I’ll always see the negative side!”
For Hamilton, the goal now shifts to scoring significant points in the first sprint of the season. “You can score a lot of points this weekend in the sprint, this is positive for sure,” said Vasseur. “The fact that Lewis was in front in Q1 and Q3 is a point of consistency. This is good.”
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