Red Bull catchable if Ferrari can uncover potential

Fred Vasseur has no doubt Red Bull can be caught this season providing Ferrari delivers on the potential he is convinced is on hand.

Fresh from winning its first F1 constructors’ title since 2013 last season, Red Bull has taken a giant stride further away from the chasing pack this year.

For the first time in its 19-season history, the team has started a campaign with back-to-back one-twos, and is only a point shy of a maximum score after the opening two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

It has left its rivals trailing, including Ferrari, as the size of Vasseur’s task after taking up the role of team principal from Mattia Binotto has been brought sharply into focus.

Around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, in particular, the Scuderia was found wanting, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc 35 and 43 seconds adrift respectively of race-winner Sergio Perez.

“First, you always need to develop the car,” said Vasseur. “Even Red Bull will develop the car. Nobody will stop.

“We’ve only had two races of the 23 so it means we have 21 to go and every single team on the grid will continue to develop, and
I think we are going the right way in terms of development.

“Potential is one thing, and on the potential side, we have made a decent step.

“The issue is that we have to stay at this maximum potential all over the weekend, and it’s not what we are doing.

“On some occasions, we are there, and on some other occasions, we are not able to be at the maximum of our possibility.”

Ferrari know where it is weak

That is the major concern for Vasseur after the opening two races, particularly in describing the current gap to Red Bull as “huge”.

“We have to stay calm,” said Vasseur. “It’s not that everything is going wrong.

“We have made some good improvements, compared to Bahrain, on the one-time pace.

“At least we have opened the gap again compared to our competitors – not with Red Bull but with Aston and Mercedes.”

Yet Vasseur has seen enough to firmly declare Red Bull is catchable.

“We have to continue to push,” said Vasseur. “It’s not the right attitude to think about the gap and to ask ‘Will we be able to close the gap?’

“We have to be focused on ourselves, that we know where we are weak, and we have to improve on this.

“We’ll see what is the outcome when we do a decent step. We know that we have to improve.

“But I think it’s the DNA of our sport, not just due to the current situation.

“We know that we have to work, we will continue and be sure that we’ll push like hell.”