F1 | Vasseur: “Leclerc as fast as Norris at the end, shame about yesterday”

Ferrari’s weekend can be looked at from two points of view: on the one hand, the satisfaction of a race that was overall well-run, even achieving a good fifth place with Charles Leclerc, never easy on a track like Singapore, while on the other, there is the regret for a Saturday to forget.

Starting from the fifth row, the podium hopes were clearly out of reach, even though after Friday’s free practice the Reds seemed to be fighting for a good position. While Leclerc managed to immediately gain a position by overtaking Yuki Tsunoda when the lights went out, Sainz slipped back to twelfth place, also due to a wide run at turn 7 in an attempt to attack the Japanese driver.

This pushed towards an even more uphill race for Ferrari, especially with the Spaniard, so the technicians in the pits chose a very aggressive strategy, with an early pit stop in an attempt to run with a clear track. A choice that allowed Sainz to express a good pace in clean air, effectively completing an overcut on the entire group composed of mid-ranking cars, such as Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto and Tsunoda himself, who was also joined by Perez, tenth in that part of the race.

A tactic that proved to be extremely effective considering the situation at the end of the opening lap of the Grand Prix, while Leclerc’s race proved to be more lively and full of overtaking. After being stuck in traffic for much of the first stint behind Hulkenberg and Alonso, the Monegasque extended the first stint, the pit stop of the Aston Martin Asturian changed the scenarios. Hulkenberg began to suffer from tyre degradation, with Leclerc cleverly taking advantage of it with a nice overtaking move before the final chicane.

After the pit stop, well thought out in terms of timing specifically to get out in front of the German from Haas, the Monegasque began his comeback with an excellent pace, the same as on Friday when the Reds seemed to be able to easily compete for the podium. After overtaking Hamilton, one of the first to stop having started on soft tyres, probably designed more for a group race, the Ferrari driver set out to hunt down Russell, quickly closing the gap. When he then came up behind him, however, a more effective traction phase, thought out throughout the stint, allowed the Briton to defend himself and keep fourth place, while Leclerc had to settle for fifth place, still positive considering the starting position.

From this point of view, Frederic Vasseur positively highlighted the performance of the two Prancing Horse drivers, also given the good pace shown in the second part of the race. On the other hand, however, there is regret for what happened in qualifying: “Yes, it is true that he had a good race, it was an excellent Sunday for us, a very positive race on both sides of the garage, which however makes what happened yesterday frustrating, because we compromised our weekend on Saturday”, said the Team Principal to the microphones of Sky Sport.

“But overall, the pace was good. In the last 25 laps, Charles was on a par with Lando. It was a good recovery. In the end we bring home good points this weekend, nothing magical, but starting from ninth and tenth place, I think it was difficult to do a better job today,” the Frenchman added, underlining how, especially in the second part of the race, Leclerc was the author of a good comeback thanks to a good pace.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“I think we could probably do the same times as Norris, we had a similar pace in the last 30 laps. The problem is that we were missing something on Saturday, but we were with them on Friday and Sunday. We will have time to analyse everything by Austin. I think overall it is positive to end the weekend before the break on a good note.”

In Austin, everything seen so far will be reset, first of all because we will return to a more challenging and complete track than those on which the last three Grands Prix have been held, which Vasseur himself before the break had identified as three events favorable to the characteristics of the Reds. On the other hand, for the American stage, many teams will bring technical innovations, including Ferrari, so it will be essential to understand what the potential advantages of each package will be.

“Surely [continueremo a sviluppare in vista di Austin]. But everyone will do it, everyone will try to bring the latest package of updates for the car. We have four weeks ahead of us and we will do our best to try to compensate a little bit for the weak points of the car,” added the Team Principal of the Prancing Horse.