It was an underwhelming weekend for Ferrari in Brazil, with Charles Leclerc’s fifth-place finish a stark contrast to the successes in Austin and Mexico City. Frederic Vasseur admits the difficulties faced by the Scuderia, which were due to both a tricky circuit for the SF-24 and wet conditions, traditionally challenging for the car from Maranello. However, the Team Principal remains focused on the final part of the season and the battle with McLaren, as he mentioned in the press conference.
Ferrari in Brazil
On Sunday in São Paulo, the Prancing Horse lacked the pace to compete for top positions, with the SF-24 only coming alive too late. Charles Leclerc, true to form, took the blame, criticizing himself for providing incorrect feedback on the setup. Fred Vasseur softened this, however: “[Charles] is always the first to blame himself. But I’m not so sure he’s responsible for the setup. It was a tough Sunday, but overall the weekend wasn’t catastrophic.” – the French manager explained at the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Alongside the setup, Ferrari also paid the price for strategic choices. Beyond the decision to pit without waiting for the red flag, the team regrets the timing of Charles Leclerc’s stop, which saw him rejoin in traffic. “We underestimated the time loss on the pit exit, which was very slippery,” Fred Vasseur explained. “A couple of tenths were enough to lose position. However, I don’t think this was decisive for the race, because the lap after we would have stopped under the Virtual Safety Car. Things would have changed if we had stayed out and waited for the red flag.”
“Some choices were difficult to anticipate. As for the pit stop, in the end, you could say that staying out would have been the right call given the red flag, but if we had crashed, we’d have looked foolish. These are difficult situations to handle. Today, the bigger issues were the setup and race pace. We were 6-7 tenths slower than Norris at the start of the stint and equally faster at the end.” – the Ferrari team principal pointed out.
Damage control
Frederic Vasseur chooses to see the glass half full, at the end of a weekend where the outcome could have been far worse: “We knew this track would be difficult for us and would favor McLaren more. In the end, we didn’t lose too many points. On the other hand, we want to score points, not lose them. There will be better weekends; it’s not a disaster. The next race in Las Vegas will probably be better for us.”
“The track wasn’t ideal for us,” continues the Team Principal. “On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine it. The differences are minimal and can depend on the setup or tire choice.” Ferrari now aims to take advantage of the upcoming Nevada race, on a track similar to Baku where the Scuderia had emerged as the fastest car: “In terms of track layout and asphalt, Las Vegas is closer to the previous circuits.” At that point, the battle for the championship will move to Qatar, an event that, after Austin, Fred Vasseur pointed to as the most likely for the arrival of updates. However, when asked about this, Fred Vasseur seems to deny this possibility: “We’ve been focused on next year’s project for months.”
FIA’s management praised
The Ferrari Team Principal also takes time to comment on matters outside the team. One of these is Red Bull’s recent accusation against McLaren, suspected of cooling its tires by injecting water: “I don’t understand this theory, given that we all try to reduce humidity in the tires.” Fred Vasseur closed by praising the FIA’s management of the weekend, with the race going ahead despite numerous complications: “At least we managed to hold the race. When we arrived at the circuit at 5 this morning, there were already thousands of fans. It was important to race for them as well. The conditions weren’t ideal, but it was the best solution.”
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