Ferrari: Challenging Red Bull 'a matter of set-up, not concept'

Ferrari team boss Frédéric Vasseur is "completely convinced" that set-up work alone on its SF-23 contender will allow the Scuderia to challenge Red Bull.

A tight qualifying session in Bahrain - where Charles Leclerc clocked in just 0.292s behind Max Verstappen - augured well for Ferrari's chances of taking the fight to Red Bull on race day.

But on Sunday, Leclerc's efforts to remain in contention against Verstappen proved vain, with the Dutchman racing in a league of his own, while Leclerc succumbed to an engine failure and teammate Carlos Sainz was never a force to be reckoned with in the race.

Even worse, Aston Martin has emerged as a genuine front-runner, with the always combative Fernando Alonso snatching the final spot on the podium at Sakhir.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the design concepts followed by Red Bull and Aston are similar, a closeness that flattered Christian Horner.

"I think that it’s flattering to see the resemblance of that car to ours," said the Red Bull boss after last Sunday's race. "So it was great to see the three of them on the podium."

Ferrari opted to refine the design of its 2022 first-generation ground effect car, sticking to its core philosophy, especially in the side-pod area where the team retained its "bathtub" concept while most teams - and especially Aston Martin - gravitated towards Red Bull's successful design.

• Read also: Vasseur orders 'full investigation' into Leclerc's engine issue

While Mercedes has admitted that only a radical overhaul of its design will improve its fortunes, Vasseur is adamant that no concept change is needed for Ferrari  team to bridge the gap with Red Bull.

"I'm completely convinced about this," he said last weekend. "I never saw a car match the pace of another one in quali and not be able to race.

"[So] then it's a matter of set-up and some choices on the car. It's not a matter of concept at all. So, we don't have to go into this direction."

However, Vasseur made clear that improvements won't materialize without rock solid reliability.

"To summarise the situation, I would say on quali pace, we are there, we are matching Red Bull, at least in Bahrain. It was a positive point.

"But now we have to be fully realistic. If we want to improve, we need to have a clear picture of the situation, and reliability is not at the level that we need.

"If we want to win races, we need to have clean sheet on the weekend and not small details there and there."

Suffering a DNF in the opening race is a tough set-back for Ferrari. But Vasseur is sticking to his initial stance: nothing was lost in Bahrain.

"It's never good to start with a DNF, and I would have preferred to finish for sure, but I want to stay consistent in my position," he said.

"I told the team before the test in Bahrain two weeks ago that the championship won't be over in Bahrain, and it doesn't matter the result in any case.

"It was true for the winter test, and it's true for today. The team experienced a different situation in the past and the most important thing now is to be able to have a clear picture of the situation, see where we are failing and to do a proper analysis on this and to conduct a stronger response."

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