No upgrades were introduced by the team, allowing full focus on next year’s car. What Ferrari improved instead was the execution across the race weekend, starting from qualifying management. Lewis Hamilton had complained about the timing of pit exits, not appreciating situations where he was forced to wait in the pit lane, blocking rivals, before starting his flying lap.
The English driver himself noted that improvements had been made in this area. Lewis needs to keep his tire temperatures under control during qualifying sessions, but the moments when cars are held in the pit lane make it difficult to predict how much the tires will cool. By avoiding this issue, Ferrari achieved their best qualifying result of the season for car #44 in Mexico.
Vasseur’s vision validated by results
Through a video posted on Motorsport.com, Italian journalist Roberto Chinchero discussed the potential of the car often mentioned by Ferrari’s Team Principal. The SF-25 is certainly not the machine that was expected at the start of the season, but the “execution” emphasized multiple times by Fred Vasseur has contributed to the recent strong results.
“The potential isn’t at a winning level, but it is better than it appeared at one point,” noted Roberto Chinchero. “There was indeed something to extract from the car, thanks to what is now a very popular term: the perfect execution across the weekend.”
Clearly, the SF-25 is not a car capable of challenging McLaren for victory, but the situation is much more positive than at other times during the season. Qualifying performance is crucial in this championship, and it has often been Ferrari’s weak point. The use of soft tires on Saturday has not always been optimal, and as seen in Baku, managing the available time in the three rounds complicated things for both drivers.
The Mexico podium
Charles Leclerc finished second in the most recent Grand Prix. Hamilton was also in contention for the podium, but his race was compromised by a penalty. “I did not expect Ferrari to be so competitive in Mexico. I thought that on a track where you need to extract all the aerodynamic load, the Scuderia wouldn’t be able to achieve what it did,” Roberto Chinchero added.
Now the circus moves to Brazil, where defending second place in the Constructors’ Championship will be a challenge. The biggest threat appears to be Max Verstappen’s Red Bull at this stage of the season, but Mercedes is also aiming to reclaim the position just behind McLaren.
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