Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur says his team’s success at the Australian Grand Prix proved that Red Bull are more likely to make mistakes when placed under pressure.

Carlos Sainz led team-mate Charles Leclerc to a one-two in Melbourne as Ferrari capitalised on the early retirement of reigning world champion Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman, who is seeking a fourth successive drivers’ title, came into the weekend on a nine-race winning streak but appeared far from certain of victory throughout as Ferrari showed strong pace in practice.

Verstappen ultimately produced a brilliant qualifying performance to take pole position but then retired after just four laps with a brake failure.

“This weekend I think it’s good evidence that when we are putting everything together, and I’m not sure that we’ll be able to do it every single weekend, we can put them a little bit under pressure,” Vasseur said.

“And it’s when they are under pressure that they will also make more mistakes.

“We have to continue in this direction. We are much more confident of the fact that we can manage this kind of event.

“From lap one, day one, we were there, we were performant, and it was quite smooth, and it’s in this situation that we are doing the best car for the Sunday.”

2024 Ferrari ‘much easier’ to develop

The result brought Leclerc within four points of Verstappen in the drivers’ standings, while Sainz would likely be the world championship leader had it not been for his absence in Saudi Arabia following an appendectomy.

Sainz finished behind Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez on the podium in Bahrain before Leclerc achieved the same result in Jeddah.

The results mark a continuation of a strong finish to last season for Ferrari, and Vasseur appears to think there is plenty more potential to be unlocked from a car that is “much easier” to develop than its predecessor.

“We made a huge step,” Vasseur added. “I think it’s more the consistency between the two compounds or between one stint and the other one.

“The car is much easier to drive, much easier to read also for the drivers. By the way, much easier to develop.

“It’s probably the biggest step that we did compared to last year, to have something that we cannot easily manage, but at least to have a good read of the car quite early in the weekend.

“Confidence is a huge part of the results in our business, and I think we are building up the confidence over the last month, but it was already the case over the last part of the season last year.”

Formula 1’s biggest ever season continues with the Japanese Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1 from April 5-7. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime

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