13 | 04 | 2019 GP China | Sebastian third in Shanghai

 A third place for Sebastian Vettel and a fifth for Charles Leclerc: that was the outcome of the Chinese Grand Prix, the one thousandth race in the history of Formula 1, for Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow, held today at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Off the grid, Sebastian got away better than poleman Valtteri Bottas and attempted to go down the outside of the Finn at the first corner, but that resulted in Charles going past him on the inside. The cars in front were running at a slightly better pace than the SF90s, which is why, after 10 laps, the team asked the drivers to swap positions to see if Sebastian could match Bottas’ pace. Max Verstappen’s early pit stop then forced the team to bring Sebastian in to cover it, sending him out on the Hard compound, so that he would not end up behind the Dutchman, who did manage to get back on track ahead of Charles.
Sebastian pitted for a second time on lap 35, this time fitting the Medium tyres, as did Hamilton and Bottas, the latter now finding himself behind Charles. Leclerc’s second stop came on lap 43 and he rejoined almost 15 seconds off Verstappen.
In the closing stages, Vettel consolidated his third place behind Hamilton and Bottas, while Charles closed much of the gap to Verstappen, but not enough to try and secure fourth place. Ferrari is second in the Constructors’ championship on 73 points, while Sebastian is fourth in the Drivers’ on 37, with Charles fifth on 36. The next race is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on 28 April.

Sebastian Vettel #5 “We are happy we got the podium, but overall we can’t be satisfied because we were too slow today. We were hoping to be in a much better place and be a match for Mercedes, but we were not. Also it was a shame we didn’t manage to finish third and fourth, In terms of calls from our pit wall today, the priority always lies within the team and Charles and I are both aware we are driving for the team. We can do our own race but first of all we have to ensure Ferrari is in a position to fight with its rivals. I think we have a good car and we are still not able to unlock its potential completely. We are learning a lot about it and it’s important to do many laps to get a better feeling for it. We are getting an ever clearer picture of what we are lacking at the moment, so I think the next few weeks will be important for us, so that we can get on the right road for the coming months”.

   Bildergalerie

Foto © www.motorsportpics.de | Jerry Andre

13 | 04 | 2019 GP China | All-Ferrari second row in China

Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc will start the one thousandth Formula 1 World Championship race from the second row of the grid. Tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix starts at 14.10 local time (8.10 CET).

Q1. The pair of Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow SF90s took to the track on Soft tyres. Sebastian did a 1’33”557, while Charles was slowed by no fewer than four cars in the final sector and could do no better than 1’34”069. That meant the Monegasque driver had to fit another set of new tyres to comfortably make the cut with a 1’32”712.

Q2. In the second part, both Ferrari cars ran Medium tyres, so as to start the race on them. Sebastian did a 1’32”232 and Charles stopped the clocks on 1’32”324.

Q3. In the top ten shoot out, both drivers had two sets of new Softs. Sebastian’s first run delivered a 1’32”001 and Charles did a 1’32”102. On the second set, both drivers improved, the German went down to 1’31”848, good enough for third, while the Monegasque went down to 1’31”865, which netted him fourth place on the grid. Pole position went to Valtteri Bottas in 1’31”574 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in 1’31”570.

Sebastian Vettel #5 “We could have done a bit better today but probably not enough to really beat our rivals for pole. It could have been worse, but I am not entirely happy. We started off well, but then our competitors had more pace over the single lap in terms of pure performance. We should have a good car tomorrow though and hopefully we can show it throughout the whole 56 laps. It’s a long race and I expect it to be a very tight one too. Making the right strategy choices will be important; we must make the right call at the right time and see where that takes us. I am not sure everyone understands how many variables have to be taken into account. The top drivers are all starting on Medium tyres and we will see if that turns out to be the right choice. I believe anything can happen.”

   Bildergalerie

Foto © www.motorsportpics.de | Jerry Andre

12 | 04 | 2019 GP China | It was a busy Friday

 It was a busy Friday in China for Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow. On the Shanghai circuit, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc worked fine tuning the set-up for Saturday qualifying which starts at 14.00 (8.00 CET) and Sunday’s race at 14.10 (8.10 CET).

During the first free practice session the two SF90s ran on the Medium compound tyres. Sebastian set a best time of 1’33”911 (19 laps completed) and Charles posted a 1’34”167 (21 laps). In the afternoon, the drivers tried the other two compounds. Sebastian Vettel did a 1’33”357 on the softest rubber, good enough for the second fastest time of the day, just 27 thousandths off Valtteri Bottas. The German then did race simulation work with a high fuel load and the hardest tyres brought to China by Pirelli.
Unfortunately, Charles Leclerc encountered traffic when running the Soft tyres setting a fastest time of 1’34”158. The Monegasque driver was unable to go for his long run because the team opted to keep him in the garage to carry out checks on the cooling system of his SF90 as the engineers had raised doubts about it. Therefore Charles did just 13 laps, while between them the two cars totalled 86.
Tomorrow gets underway with one more hour of free practice at 11.00 (5.00 CET) prior to the afternoon qualifying session. The Chinese race will be the one thousandth Grand Prix in the history of Formula 1.

Sebastian Vettel #5 “Overall it was a positive day. We still have to do some homework, the picture is a bit similar to Bahrain, where we were competitive. There are some parts of the track where we are very strong and others where we still have to improve. I expect it to be very close tomorrow and also on Sunday, so it will be key to keep working to improve the feeling with the car.”

   Bildergalerie

Foto © www.motorsportpics.de | Jerry Andre