Frederic Vasseur commented immediately after the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Leclerc finished fifth and Sainz retired.
It was a mixed race for Ferrari in Brazil. At Interlagos, the team lost points to McLaren but mitigated the damage with Charles Leclerc’s fifth-place finish. The Monegasque driver finished ahead of Norris and Piastri, while Sainz did not finish the race due to an incident in the second sector.
During the Brazilian weekend, Ferrari lost only five points to McLaren, and with three races remaining, the battle for the Constructors’ Championship is still wide open. Now there will be a two-week break before the Las Vegas race, which is expected to favor the Maranello team.
Frederic Vasseur commented on the Interlagos race: “Today went so-so. We wanted to score points with Carlos as well, of course. Then, with Charles, the timing of the first pit stop wasn’t the best, but that didn’t change the final result too much. It was more about the weather we expected; the tire pressure made it very difficult. McLaren was quicker at the start of the stint and slower at the end. We had to make some choices, and not all of them were the right ones. In terms of the championship, though, things didn’t go too badly, especially considering what happened yesterday. We’ll come back to Las Vegas stronger.”
The Frenchman added: “When I talk about pressure, I mean that at the last restart we were six or seven tenths slower than Norris, while at the end we were six or seven tenths faster. So it was hard to predict how many laps to run before the next rain shower. We took some chances, and luck wasn’t on our side, but as long as we understand what we’re doing, that’s the most important thing.
I’m obviously happy after these three races: overall, we’re still the team that has scored the most points, which is good for Ferrari and also a solid preparation for the next three. In Las Vegas, we should have a better pace, and we need to score a lot of points when we’re in a good position, but it will be like that until Abu Dhabi. There will be a nice battle among the four top teams, and today Alpine also put in a strong performance. Big congratulations to them, as they’ve had a tough season, so this is a great result.”
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari