After a nightmare Saturday, with Carlos Sainz’s crash and the tire blanket mishap with Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari redeemed itself in the Singapore Grand Prix, with an SF-24 single-seater that appeared in top form and highly competitive in terms of race pace.
A great comeback, especially for the Monegasque, who put on an exceptional final stint on the hard tires, second only to that of the race dominator and winner, Lando Norris.
After getting past Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg, and Carlos Sainz, number 16 also went on the attack against the two Mercedes, easily overtaking Lewis Hamilton and putting pressure on George Russell until the finish line.
It was also an excellent race for Carlos Sainz, with a functional strategy that allowed the Spaniard to clear traffic and finish in seventh position.
Fred Vasseur sees the glass half full
“It was a great Sunday for us,” commented the Frenchman at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix. “A very positive race from both sides of the garage, though perhaps a bit more frustrating for having compromised our weekend yesterday.” – the French manager pointed out.
“Overall, however, the pace was good. I think Charles, in the last 25 laps, was on par with Norris. It was a great recovery, and in the end, we brought home some good points for the weekend. Nothing magical, but starting ninth and tenth, I think it was hard to do a better job.” – the Ferrari team boss added.
“Am I surprised by McLaren? Yes, but I believe we could have done the same laps as Norris, or at least we had the same pace in the last 30 laps. We were with them on Friday and Sunday, while something was missing on Saturday. We’ll have time to analyze everything before Austin, but overall, I think it’s positive to end the weekend on a high note. Now there’s the break, and it’s nice to finish this way.”
Speaking of possible new updates for Texas, Frederic Vasseur finally added: “Everyone will probably try to bring their last upgrade to their cars. We have four weeks ahead of us, and we’ll do our best to try to address the car’s weaknesses.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded.
Source: f1ingenerale
