Coming into the first Sprint weekend of the season in China, there were rumors that Ferrari would be close enough to the Red Bull of Max Verstappen to fight for pole positions and even the race win. However, the Sprint qualifying did not go according to plan as neither Verstappen nor the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could even get themselves into the top 3. What started as a dry session turned into wet conditions as it started raining in SQ2 leaving drivers to adapt to the tricky conditions.

The drivers had already claimed that the weekend was going to be difficult because they had not driven in China since 2019. The repainted track surface, combined with the Sprint weekend format, presented further problems as the teams could not rely on past data to base their decisions on. Several drivers, including Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, went off track during the final part of qualifying, as they failed to find grip on the slippery track. Verstappen had to settle for 4th, followed by Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and Leclerc in 5th, 6th, and 7th, with Lando Norris claiming the pole position.

After the session, Ferrari team boss, Frederic Vasseur and Max Verstappen spoke about the tricky conditions in sprint qualifying and how the newly painted track surface proved costly for them. Scuderia Ferrari FRA posted Vassuer’s comments to Sky Sports F1 on X (formerly Twitter). The Frenchman said, “The conditions were really tricky: there was very little grip, and we had difficulty getting the tires warm. But it was the same for everyone. Covering the asphalt with bitumen; Certainly didn’t help the pilots.‘”

“That’s all, but for the rest of the weekend, the weather is expected to be dry, without rain. It was the first time this season for the car and tires in extreme conditions,” he added. Verstappen, who will start the Sprint race from 4th on the grid, explained how the inside line is not the best place to start. “It’s not ideal to start on the inside here [P4]. There is a lot less grip from left to right because of the painted stuff on the tarmac.“

Ferrari has reduced the gap to the Red Bulls this year compared to ’23. But why was the Shanghai International Circuit predicted to be the track where the two teams would be the closest?

Ferrari’s strengths will be highlighted in China, says Ex F1 Strategy engineer

Since the start of the ground effect era, Ferrari drivers have complained about their lack of confidence in high-speed corners while being quicker in slow and medium-speed corners. On the contrary, McLaren has been the strongest over fast-speed corners while Red Bull has been the most consistent throughout the range. And most of the turns on the Shanghai circuit are slow-speed in nature, giving a possible edge to Ferrari.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Bernie Collins noted that the nature of the track will suit Ferrari. “I think it will play to Ferrari’s strengths,” Collins said. “There’s a chance that Ferrari will have closed the gap a little bit to Red Bull and maybe taken a little step away from McLaren.”

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Charles Leclerc also shared similar sentiments when speaking to the media in China. “I think in the race we will be (closer), yes. But let’s see. It’s been a very long time since we drove here.” He also mentioned the importance of qualifying by stating, “Sprint weekend with two qualifyings to extract the maximum out of the car — it’s going to be very important.”

With the Chinese track turning to be such an unpredictable one to handle, can Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fight for another Ferrari win? Only time will tell!