By Carlo Platella
Ferrari concludes the Singapore weekend with a fifth and a seventh place. A positive result considering the fifth row on the starting grid, but not compared to the expectations of the eve. Vasseur however decides to look at the glass half full, also explaining the episode that cost him a potential front row in qualifying. The Team Principal of the Prancing Horse also looks to the future, anticipating the arrival of other news in the next race in Austin.
Sunday’s satisfactions
“It’s always nice to end the weekend on a positive note and also Today we had a good race”, Vasseur begins. “On the other hand, having a race like this only increases your frustration after a bad Saturday. However, I prefer to be frustrated on Sunday night after a bad Saturday but a good race rather than being frustrated after a bad race. I think finishing like this is also good for attacking the three-four weeks of break with a high spirits.”
The Team Principal underlines the closeness in race pace between Leclerc and Norris in the final stages, despite all the mitigating circumstances: “I don’t know if Lando was pushing hard in the last 20 laps, but our pace was similar and that’s encouraging. […] Maybe he was alternating slow and fast laps to recharge his batteries and go hunting for the best time, I didn’t pay attention. At least the pace was similar, even if the‘the goal today was not to match Landohow to come back and get points”.
Problems in qualifying
Vasseur acknowledges that the premises on the eve were for a better result: “On Friday we were in better shape than a fifth and a seventh place. It means that we lost something over the weekendit’s obvious. If you start ninth and tenth in Singapore, you know you did something wrong on Saturday. It’s not Sunday that we have to blame something or someone. It’s about doing a better job in qualifying.”
“I’m not sure, but I think in Q2 we were second, a tenth behind or something like that. It was in Q3 that we only had one lap available because of the red flag and we wasted that opportunity. On the other hand, when you are fighting for the tenth you go looking for the last kilometer per hour everywhere. We made a mistake in turn 1 and that’s how it went. I don’t want to blame anyone, but it’s part of the game. We have to stay focused.”
Right after qualifying Leclerc complained about the tyres being too cold when he left the pits. Vasseur clarifies what happened: “I think it had nothing to do with electric blankets. When we were about to leave the pits we were all playing games, because no one wanted to be first or last. We pretended to take the car out of the garage, everyone copied each other and we stopped for a while at the door. Then we almost completely regained temperature, but it is true that we arrived at turn 2 with the tyres not in optimal conditions, even if only slightly. Once again, there is only one lap available and you are looking for the last kilometre per hour. If at the end [in griglia] you find yourself one row behind the people in front of you, then you regret not having pushed. I talked about it with Charles, it’s part of the game.”
Towards Austin
In closing, the Team Principal looks ahead to the next race in Texas, commenting on rumours of new updates arriving in the car: “We all know that we have already started the development of the car for next year. We will try to do our best to get some small updates on the next race. I think they will be the last ones for everyone. They will help us, but it will be the same for the other teams too. In the last six races we have seen such a close fight that every single piece can make the difference”.
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