Ferrari returns home with a podium that was missing from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when Charles Leclerc managed to hit a good third place. A positive weekend which, considering the result of the sprint beyond the specific difficulties of the Monegasque on Saturday, the Reds see as a glass half full, aware that they have achieved their goal for the weekend.
In Austria, the Maranello team confirmed its second strength, beating the competition from Aston Martin and Mercedes, with the latter not hiding its disappointment at a pace that over the long run gave sensations far removed from those of the sprint. The SF-23 showed good pace on both the medium and hard, maximizing the strategy in the first stint agreed in the pre-race, according to which the drivers would not attack each other concentrating on extracting the maximum from the car to stretch on who was behind them.
“I would say that qualifying went very well and the race went well too. But we can always improve and if we compare with Max, obviously there is a way to go. There have been some steps forward since the start of the season. After Montreal it is the confirmation that we are going in the right direction”.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“At the beginning of the race Sainz was fast, but we decided to try to extend the gap on fourth and fifth position as decided before the race in case we ended up in second and third position, the strategy was the right one. We are on the right direction. If we think at the beginning of the season, Verstappen was winning with almost a lap ahead of everyone, now before the last pit stop he was only twenty seconds ahead. We have done part of the work, we still have a piece to go ”, Vasseur added, also commenting on the good performance of Sainz, who seemed particularly comfortable with him throughout the weekend.
Overall, Ferrari left the Austrian round with a smile on his face, also because the podium represents a just reward for the work done by all the factory technicians who worked day and night to anticipate the updates, initially planned for Budapest.
“Max was flying today. After that there’s a group of ten cars that could have finished in second position, including McLaren, Aston Martin, Mercedes, sometimes even Alpine. Every time you bring a small improvement, the ranking changes. Barcelona was difficult, it was the first race with the new package and we probably didn’t use it to the fullest, but step by step we understand what we can improve”.
![Detail of the new front wing of the Ferrari SF-23](https://cdn-9.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6n9VyklY/s1000/ferrari-sf-23-new-endplate-aus-1.jpg)
Detail of the new front wing of the Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: George Piola
“This weekend hasn’t been easy again with a free practice session, but we did a good job which confirms the good run from Montreal. A thought goes out to the guys at the factory because we put a lot of pressure on them to bring updates already this week, they worked 24 hours a day,” added the Team Principal.
After Montreal, another convincing performance arrived for the Ferrari, to which only the “stain” on Saturday was added, a day in which the SF-23 showed a few more small shortcomings, suffering from the sharp drop in temperatures, an aspect which especially suffered by Leclerc, while Sainz managed to be more constant, also completing a good sprint race. “Unfortunately we didn’t do a great job on Saturday, when you start from behind it’s difficult to recover, but let’s say that the last two races went well”.
The Team Principal wanted to underline how the one undertaken by Ferrari is a path of growth and which, from his point of view, does not depend only on the peculiarities of the track. “It’s not a specific case for this track. In Montreal we were already on the right direction, even if in Canada we started from the back so it was less evident”.
![Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23](https://cdn-6.motorsport.com/images/mgl/01We55xY/s1000/charles-leclerc-ferrari-sf-23-1.jpg)
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Nonetheless, Vasseur mentioned that the next track will represent a real challenge for the Reds, because Silverstone contains some characteristics that have put the SF-23 in crisis in other rounds: “Next week there will be a completely different track, even with different compounds, but it’s a great challenge that we gladly face”.
Furthermore, over the next weekend several teams will bring further updates, including Mercedes, so we must always keep our guard up: “I’m sure they [le altre squadre] they will develop and update the car in the next two Grands Prix and we will do the same. I think it will be a long battle until the end of the season.”
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