Scuderia Ferrari aimed to challenge Red Bull in 2024. Despite Max Verstappen winning the first two races of the season, Maranello has made progress this year. The Italian team has finished on the final step of the podium in both races. Now, Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur has proclaimed that the Scuderia is optimistic about its prospects.

The Frenchman mentioned that he was not willing to be pessimistic after a decent outing in Saudi Arabia. Fred Vasseur claimed that Ferrari had to enjoy the podiums and remain optimistic for the upcoming races. Although, the 55-year-old admitted that Red Bull was still ahead of Maranello.

Now, I don’t want to be pessimistic, because it was a good weekend and we have to be optimistic and we need to enjoy these moments, but it’s clear Red Bull is still ahead.Fred Vasseur said as reported by Motorsport.com

Vasseur pinpointed that Milton Keynes was around two to three tenths ahead in Qualifying and even more in race-pace. However, the Ferrari team boss mentioned that it was difficult to know the real deficit as it was unclear if Max Verstappen was pushing throughout the race.

In quali they have perhaps two/three tenths on us, and in the race a bit more. But it’s difficult to estimate because we don’t know if they were pushing at the max.

Nevertheless, Fred Vasseuer affirmed that the feeling was positive within Maranello. The Frenchman claimed that the Scuderia was only a couple of right steps away from putting pressure on Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Recently, Helmut Marko admitted that Ferrari was closing its gap with Milton Keynes.

But the feeling is more positive that, if you come back in this region, you know if you do a step, you can put some pressure on them.Discover: Helmut Marko claims his ‘fears were materialized’ by Max Verstappen at the Saudi Arabian GPFred Vasseur claims Ferrari can fight with Red Bull in 2024

Ferrari have made progress over the winter break. Fred Vasseur admitted that it was no longer useless for the Scuderia to fight Red Bull. As the Italian team was not behind Milton Keynes by a deficit of almost one second. Subsequently, Vasseur claimed that Maranello was finally in a position to fight with the reigning world champions.

When we were at one second [behind] it was useless, but now with a good start we can be there, we can fight.Fred Vasseur and Christian Horner in the Las Vegas GP pitlane (Via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen had a comfortable weekend in Jeddah. Fred Vasseur recognized that the top-speed advantage helped Red Bull. However, the Frenchman highlighted that Ferrari would have better opportunities over the course of the season.

I think in Jeddah it was quite easy [for them] to overtake because they had a better top speed – it was a choice – but on some occasions we will have other opportunities.

Certainly, Ferrari could pose a real threat to Red Bull this year. However, Maranello would need to work on major in-season upgrades to match the RB20. Moreover, the team would need to find the right set-up and strategy to potentially topple Max Verstappen as the championship leader.