Ferrari disappointment, vice-Vasseur tries to see some good: “First time we’ve fought for pole”

Ferrari, what a disappointment in qualifying for the Monaco GP. Starting with the underdogs, on the track that is a paradise for those with a good chassis, did not play into Ferrari’s hands. The Scuderia di Maranello, which started Saturday with the news of the absence of team principal Fred Vasseur, forced to stop for health checks after a minor illness, in the end was not even able to get a front row position. Thus, despite top performances throughout the weekend, in the end Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc did not go beyond third and fourth place on the starting grid, also beaten by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull as well as by poleman Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes. For Ferrari vice-boss, Jerome D’Ambrosio, the good thing is that the Ferrari, for the first time in the season, was fighting for pole. Click here to add Formula Passion as your favorite source on Google Discover: you will find our contents more easily Ferrari vice-team principal Jerome D’Ambrosio speaks “Clearly – explains the former Belgian driver to Sky – I can’t stand here and say that we are happy because it would be a lie. Also because actually, with the last lap, I’m not saying that Leclerc would have been in pole position because in the end you always have to close the lap, but up until the moment he touched the wall he was in the fight. So for us it’s a bit of a disappointment for sure but, on the other hand, the fact that for the first time we are fighting for pole position is a positive thing that we take home.” Leclerc’s difficulties D’Ambrosio then tries to analyze the reasons why it is almost always precisely in Q3 that Ferrari disappoints: “I think there are several reasons and it also depends a little on the format, because sometimes perhaps in the Sprint Qualifying you run on the medium tyres. In general, however, we struggle a bit to extract the maximum. And this weekend you can see it well because yesterday too there were excellent times, but the drivers told us that they were struggling to make them. Then in the end, when you get to Q3, you have to putting everything together in the hundredth, or even in the thousandth, because when everyone arrives at that moment, you struggle to extract all the potential if you are not 100% comfortable with the car”. Regarding Leclerc, who then ended up against the wall in his last, desperate, fast attempt, the debate is about the lack of confidence and the possible difficulties with the brakes that Charles complained about all weekend (and which he had also complained about in Canada). “Certainly it all depends on the car – adds D’Ambrosio – and the braking phase is certainly very complex this year, with the new single-seaters. So, having to put everything together, in the end braking is a very important part and if the driver perhaps doesn’t have the right feeling with the set-up, with the braking distribution, etc., perhaps he finds himself in a situation in which he finds it more difficult to put everything together”. D’Ambrosio hopes for the Ferrari’s sprint at the start However, there remains the belief and hope of being able to repeat the slingshot starts that characterized the entire first part of the 2026 season also on the narrow Monte Carlo straight: “Tomorrow we get up precisely for that, because we will try to maximize our opportunities starting right from the start. We will give everything and then we will see at the end of the race what it means in terms of result”, concluded Ferrari’s vice-team principal, Jerome D’Ambrosio.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-06-07 03:05:00