Vasseur hails 'positive' feedback from drivers after major Ferrari upgrades

The Scuderia have made a promising start to their pursuit, as Leclerc topped the timing charts at the Hard Rock stadium. In the final 15 minutes, the grid moved onto soft tyres for some qualifying runs, with Leclerc beating Max Verstappen to top spot by just over three tenths with a time of 1:29.310.

It should be said, however, that McLaren's Lando Norris looked like getting the better of Leclerc but ran into some traffic, almost colliding with Williams' Alex Albon, while Kimi Antonelli was in the garage late-on with a power unit issue that Mercedes failed to fix by chequered flag.

Speaking at the Team Principal press conference, Vasseur was asked how his drivers have reacted to a majorly-upgraded SF-26.

He said to media, including GPblog: "It’s positive but I think also that we have to keep in mind that it’s the first session of the season with this sort of track temperature and this is dominating everything, I think, for everybody. But overall, the first feeling is positive but we’ll see the real feedback and the real feeling after the quali."

The Ferrari boss was then asked to reflect on the first three races of the season, with the Frenchman satisfied that his team have maximised performance so far when compared to leaders Mercedes. The Scuderia trail the Silver Arrows by 45 points in the standings.

Vasseur added: "It’s perhaps difficult to draw a conclusion after three events but clearly Mercedes is a step ahead. They did three pole positions, three wins. Nobody can say something else. Overall, I’m quite happy with the fact that we didn’t leave a single point on the table, that efficiency is key, and everything went well on our side.

Vasseur was nonetheless quizzed on the potential of the SF-26, after positive feedback from his drivers, and teased a continued high rate of development from his team.

"But development for this races and the next one, we are still on the phase to have a high rate of development. It’s true for us, it’s true for everybody, and we will see after six, seven races perhaps something a bit more stabilised," Vasseur concluded.