An almost unexpected podium for Ferrari at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix.
An almost unexpected podium for Ferrari at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc took it, following a splendid duel with George Russell, allowing the Monegasque driver to secure his second podium finish of the season. Lewis Hamilton, however, fared no better, with the Briton appearing to struggle more than his teammate and a sixth-place finish that certainly didn’t make the seven-time world champion happy.
Fred Vasseur, interviewed by Sky Sport F1, commented on the two Ferraris’ race with these words “Yesterday there were some misunderstandings about my statement regarding the new championship starting in Miami. We won’t be the only ones bringing updates, everyone will. We’ll have a month, and that’s a lot, but every team is pushing like crazy to improve the car. It’s not just about us; we just needed to clarify this.
Lewis’s second half of the race? He complained a little more than Charles about the tires, and perhaps he also had some problems managing his overtake mood, because once you’re inside, you lose a bit of pace, and I think that’s exactly what happened.
The race, overall, was fun because there were a lot of battles. I don’t know how much overtaking there was, but this race was definitely a positive spot for Formula 1. Performance comes from everywhere, and that means we have to work in every area; we know we have a deficit on the straights, but we mustn’t focus on just working on one component; we need to improve in every area to Don’t get left behind. Remember that last year there were huge performance fluctuations over the same weekend, and this depends on a multitude of dynamics we’re working on. We’re still at the beginning of the homologation process, and we have plenty of room for development.
And finally, a comment on the smaller gap between Mercedes and Ferrari in the race: “The smaller gap between us and Mercedes in the race? Yes, it’s a trend that’s been going on since the start of the season: they have a 5- to 7-tenths advantage in qualifying, which, perhaps, in the race, is mitigated by various factors, starting with the possibility of using the overtake mood.”
Photos: Scuderia Ferrari HP
