“It’s a great success for Formula 1. Everyone was a bit pessimistic, but the show was mega, as was the race, perhaps the best of the season”. Vasseur is positive about the return of Formula 1 to Las Vegas, an event which saw Ferrari fighting for victory for a long time. Charles Leclerc finishes in second position, while Carlos Sainz is sixth at the finish line. The result raises the Prancing Horse’s odds in the challenge with Mercedes for second place in the constructors’ championship, but in Maranello they are also dealing with the damage suffered by Sainz’s SF-23 in free practice.
The race
“It’s a strange feeling.” reflects Vasseur in the post-race press conference. “We took pole and we overtook the Red Bulls three timesbut we came second”. After losing position at the start, Leclerc regained the lead just before Verstappen’s pit stop, also delaying his pit stop by five laps. However, the subsequent entry of the safety car gave the Red Bull drivers the opportunity to fit a set of new tyres: “The timing of the Safety Car was the worst for us in terms of laps after our stop. That’s how it goes though. Charles did an excellent job, but so did Carlos if you consider what happened on Friday and then at the start. He recovered from 18th/17th place to the final sixth position.”
Leclerc suffered in the first laps after the restart, having difficulty getting the hard tire used up to temperature. After being overtaken by Verstappen, the number 16 ceded second position to Perez following a long run into turn 12, only to then take it back at the last braking point of the weekend. Vasseur does not hide his amazement at the Monegasque’s maneuver: “On the first lap [del sorpasso] I thought he would try, but looking at the delay on the monitor told me he was too far away. I was a little surprised, although perhaps I was less so than Checo. The maneuver was huge.”
Good tire management
Leclerc showed a better pace on the mediums than Verstappen on the same tire in the first stint, with the Dutchman forced to bring forward his stop to contain the drop in performance. In the second half of the race, however, it was the world champion who took the lead, but Vasseur does not believe that the reason was the switch to the harder compound, but rather the five extra laps covered by the Monegasque’s tyres. “I think that Verstappen had more degradation and he destroyed the tires before us, but he was already in the lead,” Vasseur’s analysis. “This means that we had a similar pace over the entire stint. Maybe with the medium tires we had better management, but I’m not so sure that with the hard tires the situation wasn’t the same. They stopped five laps after us and in the end I had the feeling that we were going back to Perez. The rhythm was there. The tire management was ok.”
During the season, tire management in the race was often a deficiency for Ferrari compared to Red Bull. The Team Principal, however, curbs the enthusiasm for the pace expressed in Las Vegas, underlining how the low temperatures have attenuated thermal degradation, making graining the limiting factor: “We must be careful not to draw hasty conclusions. In Brazil Mercedes was in no man’s land with tire management, while this weekend they had a decent race. The story changes depending on the track and the tyres. The environmental conditions here were quite cold compared to the rest of the season.”
Ferrari now flies to Abu Dhabi with just 4 points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ standings. Vasseur charges the team: “If you consider that a couple of races ago we were 16 points behind, we are on the right track. Abu Dhabi however will be another story. We managed to do well in Monza, Singapore, Austin, Mexico and this weekend, on different tracks, conditions and compounds. We are more than motivated before Abu Dhabi. Inertia is on our side”.
The damage count
At Ferrari, they are dealing with the damage done to Carlos Sainz’s car in free practice, when a manhole sucked into the asphalt punctured the bodywork, damaging the internal components. “The frame cannot be repaired, even the seat was damaged,” explains Vasseur. “There are a lot of extra costs: chassis, battery, engine and gearbox are damaged. There are numerous consequences on the financial, sporting, budget and spare parts fronts.” The costs for repairs and new components will in fact be counted towards the spending ceiling. “Renters the budget cap. There are no exceptions.”
In the race Sainz had to serve a penalty of ten positions on the starting grid due to the approval of the third battery of the season, necessary to replace the damaged one. Ferrari was denied its request for an exemption justifiable by reasons of force majeure, a decision that the Team Principal does not agree with: “When it comes to assigning an extra engine or tyres, the problem is that they guarantee a performance advantage, which however does not arise with the battery. Given that we missed FP1 and that the mechanics had to work like hell to get the car back in order, consider the episode as ‘force majeure’ he wouldn’t have been so stupid”.
“I think it wasn’t the right decision given the circumstances,” continues Vasseur. “It was very hard for Carlos and for the team. We also need to discuss the circumstances under which the accident occurred. For me the problem is not just the manhole, but the minute that passed between the yellow and red flags. I think it’s excessive.” In fact, the Team Principal reveals that the teams had not been warned of the danger noticed by the race direction: “They didn’t tell us anything, we didn’t know the reason for the yellow flag. […] But if you put it on it’s because you saw something, you don’t wave it in advance.”
“I am more disappointed with the way it was handled than with the accident itself, which had already happened in Monaco, the pinnacle of street circuits. Then it occurred in Malaysia and twice in Baku. It’s hard to predict. However, the way in which it was handled can be discussed.” The theme will be discussed at the F1 Commission meeting scheduled for next week. Attention in Maranello, however, will be focused above all on the final event in Abu Dhabi, decisive for the assignment of second place in the constructors’ championship.
#Vasseur #Motivated #Abu #Dhabi #inertia