"The points are scored on Sunday" - Ferrari boss explains difficulty of asking his drivers to give up shot at pole position

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has said that the team and Charles Leclerc decided to focus more on the race compared to qualifying after abandoning the Monegasque's Q3 lap.

Going into the final run of qualifying, Leclerc was a tenth behind the provisional pole time of Max Verstappen in P2, so it came as a shock when the Monegasque didn't come out.

Speaking to Motorsport Italy, the Ferrari team boss explained that points were awarded on Sunday and that the team prioritized the main race. He explained:

"We discussed saving a set of Softs for Leclerc earlier on the pit wall. We already knew that points are awarded on Sunday, so it's important for us to prepare for the race. We saw that saving a set of new tyres in Bahrain is very important. For example, we won't do the same thing in Monte-Carlo, it depends on the tracks. I think the team has done a great job overall."

He added:

"The drivers are competitive. It's not easy to tell them that it's necessary to sacrifice the fight for pole in view of the race. But we had discussed it before, and we agreed to do so together with Charles and the team and we did so."

The first race of the season is on Sunday (March 5).

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"I don't know what to expect tomorrow" - Ferrari team principal

Despite sacrificing a chance to take pole, the Ferrari team principal admitted that he doesn't know what to expect from the race. He said that he has modest expectations but isn't sure if they come true. Vasseur said:

"I don't know what to expect tomorrow. I have expectations, but it's always difficult to know exactly what will happen. We know that in the past we have suffered from degradation in the race, and for this reason, we have been more cautious and will start with a new set. The season won't end tomorrow night, so we will have to keep the same approach to try and do our best throughout the season."

He continued:

"It's difficult to know how much Charles could have improved by making a second attempt in Q3. Max managed to improve, and we too could have expected the same thing. Maybe he would have fought again with Max, but we decided to focus on the race; we had already agreed to do it without getting carried away by emotions, and we have not changed plans".

It will be fascinating to see if Ferrari's gamble with Leclerc pays off, as they will have a tire offset to Red Bull.