Tears under the podium, then the statements at the end of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza: Fred Vasseur enjoys Charles Leclerc’s triumph. From the emotion under the podium to the affectionate greeting to the fans packed on the main straight, Fred Vasseur – Ferrari Team Principal – recounted the stages of Charles Leclerc’s historic victory in Brianza in the post-race of Monza.
The Monza weekend turns red: Charles Leclerc triumphs in in front of the Tifosi and delivers an incredible victory to Frederic Vasseur’s Ferrari. The perfect management of Charles Leclerc’s unprecedented strategy moved the Ferrari team principal, who spoke post-race to Sky Sport.
A single stop: the strategy delivers the victory to Fred Vasseur
“It was a good strategy. We had it planned from the start. We saw the high degradation at the beginning and were surprised, but we stuck with our choices. A bit risky, but it went well. The drivers managed the tires very well, without over-pushing. We made a good strategy like in Zandvoort, but here we also won.” – the French manager pointed out.
“At one point, though, we thought we would go for two stops. Even if we didn’t experience any degradation in the second stint. However, Charles felt comfortable. When we realized that the worst-case scenario was finishing on the podium, we went for it. We said to ourselves: ‘Alright, let’s stay consistent with the lap times and go for it’. Everything went well. I believe Charles had everything under control; he drove perfectly.” – Fred Vasseur continued.
“In any case, in this job, you have to take risks and manage them. Everything went great, both on the drivers’ side and the team’s side. The two pit stops went well, the team was exceptional, and the confidence benefited positively.”
The account of the final laps
“What were we thinking during those last laps? Honestly, nothing special. We were just doing a lot of calculations every lap, watching the gap to Piastri. With each passing lap, we felt more and more secure. On the final lap, I realized: ‘We have a 4-second lead and 5 km to go, let’s finish the lap and win’.”
The McLarens had already planned a double stop. Reflecting on the first pit stop, Frederic Vasseur said: “I think it was a bit early to come in. At that point, they had already planned to do two stops; for us, it was very early, but we wanted to cover them to run the same race. However, we knew it would be a very long race.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded at the end of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
Source: f1ingenerale
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