Fred Vasseur: “Lewis Hamilton was in control. Starting in front helps” | F1 Chinese Sprint race. Fred Vasseur expressed his satisfaction with Lewis Hamilton’s brilliant victory in the Shanghai Sprint race.

Lewis Hamilton’s Standout Performance

The first real highlight of the Ferrari-Hamilton partnership arrived in China. While it was just a Sprint race, the way the British driver dominated from pole position has ignited the dreams of Ferrari fans around the world. However, team principal Fred Vasseur is keeping expectations in check. Speaking to Sky Sport F1 after the race, he praised Lewis Hamilton’s performance, as well as Charles Leclerc’s effort, despite the Monegasque finishing fifth after starting fourth. The French manager also quickly shifted focus to the upcoming qualifying session.

“We shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from this race,” the Frenchman cautioned. “It’s still too early. I’m not saying Lewis had an easy race, but he was in control from the start. At one point, he allowed Verstappen to close in a little, but in doing so, he also forced him to damage his tires. He had clean air throughout the race, was able to push towards the end, and finished with a seven-second gap over Oscar Piastri. The most important thing for me is that we had a strong race. Charles was also managing his pace at one stage but came back very strong at the end. Now, we move forward.”

A Crucial Qualifying Session

After securing pole position in Friday’s Sprint qualifying, Fred Vasseur was not surprised by Hamilton’s strong race pace. “When you start from pole, you have to aim for the win,” he emphasized. “You can’t start from pole and expect to finish third. The pace was good, the car was well-balanced, and that’s the key factor. If you perform well in qualifying, you should expect a good race. However, it’s also true that starting second makes things more difficult in these conditions—you’re in dirty air, you wear out the tires more, and if you can’t overtake, you struggle. Lewis managed the race well; he let Verstappen catch up at one stage, which forced him to push and damage his tires, while Lewis had some performance in reserve.”

“Is qualifying crucial? Yes,” Fred Vasseur confirmed. “It’s a bit less so for a long race because strategy gives more flexibility. But of course, we’d prefer to start from pole again tomorrow, no question about it.” The Frenchman also defended Leclerc’s performance: “Did he struggle? No. He was two-tenths behind yesterday, that’s true. But today, starting fourth or fifth means you have to worry about tire management, which prevented him from pushing in the early laps. Russell, on the other hand, pushed hard, but in the end, he was just trying to survive. Without a race simulation, it was difficult to have precise expectations or gauge how much we could push the tires from the start.” – the Ferrari team boss concluded.