Ferrari were scared ahead of qualifying, reckons Vasseur

Reflecting on the nail-biting qualifying session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur has acknowledged that the Scuderia had been "scared" before the one-hour session.

Having displayed encouraging pace all through the weekend, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz emerged as Russell's closest rival in the all-important final qualifying segment, but even his best effort was not enough to beat the Mercedes driver.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc ended up only fourth after having struggled to getting Pirelli’s tyres in their ideal operating window in qualifying.

Asked to comment on Ferrari's showing on Friday, team boss Fred Vasseur has acknowledged that the Scuderia had been "scared" before the one-hour session as it feared that the SF-24 would not be able to "switch on" the tyres in the unusually cold conditions.

“It’s a bit optimistic, but we are in a good position. This season, we perform better in the race than in qualifying, we know that," Vasseur started his assessment.

"We struggled all weekend to get the tyres up to temperature on the [qualifying] lap, so it was a good session, probably better than expected, at least with Carlos. In practice, the pace was good in the race simulations, which is encouraging.”

“Tyre management was crucial even in qualifying. It was necessary to get the right temperature in the tires during the preparation lap. With the 8 minutes in Q3, we couldn’t prepare the way we wanted. But the race will be long, overtaking will be possible, let’s focus on the grand prix.”

Last year saw drivers struggle from graining on the front tyres. Vasseur expects that the same issue can arise tomorrow, which means that whoever manages to keep the tyres in good shape will have a great advantage.

“Tyre management will play a key role. Overtaking is possible if you have the speed. We have a good top speed: we need to try to keep the tires in good condition," concluded the Frenchman.