Vasseur guards against euphoria: 'Red Bull still ahead of us'

Satisfied faces in Ferrari's pit box. The Italian team is having a fine test in Bahrain, already having the fastest time on Thursday and, for now, also on Friday. Yet Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari's team principal, does not want to be blinded by the times driven, he told F1TV.

"For sure, it's better to be at the top than to be at the back," says Vasseur. "But on the other hand, you don't know about the level of fuel of the others. You don't know about the engine setting. And it's very difficult to have a clear picture. The most important and the most interesting for us is probably the feeling from Carlos and Charles. They are much more comfortable in the car. The car looks to be much more consistent, probably a bit easier to drive also. And this is a big step for us.."

Vasseur says his team already made a huge step forward last year, although it was not enough to keep up with Red Bull structurally. With the new car, the Frenchman expects the team to move further in the right direction. Whether it will be enough to stay ahead of Red Bull now? Vasseur doubts that.

Therefore, the result of the test should not be seen as how the balance of power really is. "We have to stay calm with this. The most important is to trust our guys because their feedback was positive and we have still a lot to do on the development, for sure. I think Red Bull is still ahead, but let’s continue to push and we'll see where we will be next week. So we're not getting too carried away just yet."