F1 | Vasseur: “Canada is different from Monaco, but we will be involved”

From one extreme to the other, or almost. Formula 1 has just finished the Monaco Grand Prix, the most difficult track in terms of overtaking in the race, and is preparing to fly over the Atlantic Ocean once again to contest the Canadian Grand Prix which, again this year, will take place held at Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Ferrari is fresh from its second victory of the season, the one obtained in Monaco, after the success in Australia scored by Carlos Sainz. Two victories in 8 races is a good haul, especially after the terrible 2023 season, in which no one even managed to worry Max Verstappen.

This year, however, the Dutchman has not been able to rest easy for a few races now, and it is no coincidence that he has made a series of unusual mistakes for him starting from Imola. And even in Monte-Carlo he made mistakes that led him to finish in an anonymous sixth place.

Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, had already stated in unsuspecting times that if anyone managed to get close to Red Bull in terms of performance, even the now irreproachable Verstappen would start making mistakes, as would the team led by Christian Horner . And so it was.

“I don’t want to draw conclusions based on this weekend, but if you look at the last two or three weekends, I think Max made more mistakes in Imola than in previous races. If you stay in your comfort zone for strategy, for everything , make no mistake. They will be back soon and they will be strong, and I don’t think it will be easy until the end [della stagione]”.

“In Canada there is almost the opposite of Monaco in terms of speed and downforce, but there are also curb features, a lot of low speed corners, chicanes and so on. Some corners are similar to those in Monaco. But, overall, if we look at the performances of Melbourne, Imola and Miami, with different types of compounds, different asphalts and different layouts, the race will be very close until the end.”

Now Ferrari is much closer to Red Bull, but there is also McLaren which – thanks to the latest updates introduced in Miami – found itself first winning in Florida with Lando Norris, then always being competitive and fighting for victory both in Imola and Monaco. A three-way fight which, according to Vasseur, will continue for the next few weeks.

“I’m only focused on myself, I don’t care about others, the goal is to do a good job, improve the car, do a good job with the drivers. Then we will fight with the guys who are with us on the starting grid. Not I’m focused on someone else: there are still 17 races to go.”

“McLaren are a competitor, certainly today we were first and third, they were second and fourth, we had exactly the same pace. I think yesterday it was a question of a tenth. Last week in Imola they were ahead of us. It will be like this until fine. I’m not obsessed with Red Bull.”