F1 Sao Paulo schedule change justified by strong fan reaction, Ferrari boss believes. Fred Vasseur says fan response vindicates F1’s rescheduling calls in Sao Paulo.

Scuderia Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur believes that the enthusiastic fan response to the revised Brazilian Grand Prix schedule confirms that Formula 1 and the FIA made the correct decisions regarding the weekend’s timing adjustments. Due to heavy rain and thunderstorms, qualifying was rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday morning, with further weather concerns prompting the race start to be moved up by 90 minutes. This resulted in an early 7:30am qualifying session, where Lando Norris claimed pole position before Max Verstappen went on to deliver a remarkable victory. The French manager noted that the long lines of fans eager to enter the circuit reassured him that these schedule changes were indeed beneficial for those attending.

“We can’t complain. At the end of the day, we were able to do the race. I think the race was a good one. What we have to keep in mind is that when I came at 5am there were already thousands of fans outside and at least for them it’s important to do the job.” – the Ferrari team boss pointed out – “For sure, the conditions were not ideal for the team, for everybody, but at the end of the day it was the only option to do the race and I think it was a good one.”

Charles Leclerc’s fifth-place finish at the Interlagos circuit last weekend played a crucial role in minimizing Scuderia Ferrari’s points loss to McLaren in the constructors’ championship fight ahead of the final three races of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign. However, Charles Leclerc expressed frustration, attributing his slower pace to setup choices he believed hindered his performance. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, however, disagreed with Leclerc’s self-critique, suggesting other factors may have influenced the car’s performance rather than any specific setup errors made by the driver.

“He’s always the first one to blame himself but I’m not sure he’s in charge of the setup. It was a difficult Sunday, but I think overall it’s not a dramatic weekend. And it’s more on some choices that it was quite difficult to anticipate, things like the pit stop. You can say at the end of the day if you stay on track and you are waiting for the red flag it’s the right call, but if you crash you look stupid. Honestly, these kinds of weekends are quite difficult to manage from the pit wall and the car; but it’s more the pace and the setup because the pace was really difficult. We were seven tenths slower than Norris at the beginning of the stint and probably six or seven tenths faster than him at the end.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded as the Maranello team continues preparations for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.