“I’m convinced, completely convinced” - Ferrari boss determined of their car’s concept competing against Red Bull

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is confident that the team can challenge Red Bull Racing in 2023.

Red Bull made a strong start to the season when Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix, with teammate Sergio Perez finishing second and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso third. Ferrari, on the other hand, were not as impressive.

While Charles Leclerc was forced to retire in the closing stages of the race due to an unspecified power unit problem, Carlos Sainz, battling tire degradation, finished fourth, almost a minute behind Alonso.

While the events that unfolded at the Bahrain International Circuit raised questions over how ready Ferrari are for a title fight, Vasseur remains confident in his team's abilities.

He highlighted Ferrari’s pace in qualifying as a reason to be optimistic moving forward, saying (via the official F1 website):

“I’m convinced, completely convinced about this. I never saw a car able to match the pace of another one in quali and not be able to in the race. It’s a matter of set-up and some choices on the car – it’s not a matter of concept at all.”

That said, Vasseur is keen to get ahead of the car's performance and reliability issues as quickly as possible. He said:

“It’s never good to start with a DNF and I would’ve preferred to finish like Red Bull, for sure. But now I want to stay consistent in my position. I told the team before [the test] in Bahrain two weeks ago that the championship won’t be over in Bahrain – it doesn’t matter the result in any case. It was true for the winter test, and it’s true for [the first race].”

He added:

“The most important [thing] now is to be able to have a clear picture of the situation, where we are failing, do a proper analysis on this and to come back stronger as soon as possible.”

---

Ralf Schumacher dismisses Ferrari's potential F1 title challenge in 2023

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has expressed doubts about Ferrari challenging Red Bull Racing for the championship in 2023.

Speaking to Formel1's YouTube channel, Schumacher said:

“I don’t think so. I think it will take too long (to close the gap) and that Red Bull will time is already out of the picture unless, of course, there is technical bad luck. I would like it, but I fear that this will be a relatively boring season. It will revolve around two fighting teammates.”