Kimi Antonelli secured victory at the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid as Fred Vasseur blamed a qualifying deficit for Ferrari’s compromised race strategy.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc crossed the line fourth at the Madring street circuit after committing to a 49-lap hard-tyre stint.
The Monegasque driver stayed out during an early Virtual Safety Car, needing a late red flag to secure a free pit stop.
That interruption never arrived, leaving him 29.116 seconds adrift of the Mercedes race winner.
Speaking to Formula1.com, the Ferrari team principal insisted “the potential is there” despite the frustrating result.
Vasseur said: “A Safety Car, it would have been P2, P3. It’s more a strategy than something else and on his side, the pace was good.”
“If we missed something, it’s more yesterday [in Qualifying]. Today I think we did what we had to do – we took the risks we had to take and the pace is the pace that we need to have,” he added.
Qualifying Deficits Compromise Sunday Execution
The Scuderia continues to leak championship momentum because poor single-lap pace forces their strategy desk into extreme gambles to challenge the front row.
Lewis Hamilton suffered a miserable afternoon, retiring his Ferrari on lap two after reporting a long brake pedal.
Vasseur confirmed they attempted to fix the issue from the pit wall, noting: “There were still 56 [laps to go]. The first time it happened was from Lap 2 and it was too risky.”
While Pedro Clerot dominated earlier in Formula 3, the main event underlined the operational gap between the leading constructors.
Ferrari must now refine their qualifying setups before the paddock regroups for the next championship round.
