F1 | Vasseur: “Frustrated. We should have introduced the Hard differently”

Frustration is never a desirable state of mind. Yet, in some ways, it suggests how and how much Ferrari has improved over the last few weeks.

Charles Leclerc’s second place today and Carlos Sainz’s accident on the penultimate lap with Sergio Perez left a bitter taste in the mouths of Ferrari and team principal Frédéric Vasseur, but also the awareness of having made steps forward that are leading the Reds to consistently fight for victory and the podium, so much so that they are very close to Red Bull and second place in the Constructors’ World Championship.

The Prancing Horse team principal, as usual, commented on the race to the microphones of Sky Sport F1, commenting on both Sainz’s accident and Leclerc’s result in a mix of emotions.

Vasseur, what do you think about Sainz’s incident with Perez?
“It’s the first time I’ve seen the incident. I think Carlos started the straight just behind Charles and they both tried to keep up with him. It’s true that Checo had a lot of space on the left and didn’t move. It’s a shame to end the weekend like this.”

Do you think that not having done much free practice and not having tried race pace had an impact on Leclerc’s result today?
“For sure not having done much in Friday’s practice didn’t help Charles much, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. Charles was probably a bit too optimistic after the first stint, because we were very comfortable and we knew the introduction of the tyre in the second stint would be very important. He didn’t push that much and it was probably not the right approach at that stage. In the end that was the key. Once behind, we struggled to overtake Piastri and we damaged the tyres more being behind him. When you are behind a car, the tyres are damaged more than those in front. So it was difficult to give him the overtaking back.”

Leclerc seemed surprised by Piastri’s attack, which then proved decisive. Could he have defended himself more decisively?
“Yes, maybe Charles could have defended the position more. But as I said before, it was the first lap of the stint and it was also important to protect the tyres. Of course, it is more important to protect the position than the tyres, so maybe he didn’t realise how close Piastri was and how fast the McLaren was on the straight, but I haven’t spoken to Leclerc yet.”

Also in light of today’s result, do you think the front wing that McLaren uses played a role?
“That wing is certainly not a technical disadvantage, let’s say. But we have the potential and the package to be able to win. We were on pole and in the first stint we were dominating. Now we have to do better with what we have and today we had margin to do a better job. Then of course, today we made another podium, we are scoring more points than Red Bull and we are taking them back in the Constructors’ Championship. This is important. But it is true that there is a sort of frustration for Carlos’ accident and for having lost to Piastri. But in the end you can’t always win”.