A podium seemed like an unattainable dream for Ferrari before the Zandvoort race, following a complicated start to the weekend. Defying all predictions, Ferrari bounced back during the race, securing third place with Charles Leclerc. Fred Vasseur is smiling, now looking ahead to the Monza race with hope that the new updates will be a valuable ally.
The checkered flag brings a big smile to the faces of the team from Maranello. The surprise has been served, with Charles Leclerc fending off a charging McLaren driven by Oscar Piastri to secure an unexpected third place. The weekend had been difficult from the start, from the first free practice sessions to the qualifying that saw Carlos Sainz eliminated in Q2. Everyone involved had the impression of a Ferrari on the defensive, focused on limiting as much damage as possible.
Charles Leclerc himself confirmed these feelings after qualifying: “It would be a miracle to reach the podium,” the Monegasque analyzed. But in the race, the SF-24 transforms and seems like a different car: Leclerc and Sainz make a strong comeback, bringing Charles to P3 and Carlos to P5.
Unexpected and unpredictable, the race for the red team represents an important boost of confidence for the Emilia-based team ahead of next weekend. At Monza, Ferrari will try to improve further with an important update package: in the post-race, Fred Vasseur analyzed the situation for Ferrari.
“It was a really good race. Before the race, within the team, we weren’t very optimistic, but it went very well. Good strategy and good race, we managed everything excellently. We appreciate the result, but Norris had a big gap. We need to focus on winning, not on third place.”
“Probably, putting Norris aside, we’re talking about tenths of a second. Sometimes you find the right conditions. From Friday, we had the feeling that we were more comfortable on used tires.” – the French manager pointed out at the end Dutch Grand Prix.
Fred Vasseur doesn’t want to raise expectations for the weekend in Italy and downplays the anticipation for the updates: “Can we think optimistically about Monza? Let’s not think about Monza; let’s think about Zandvoort! The result is positive also for the team’s confidence. At Monza, we will probably be in better shape, considering the type of track. But we must remember that today Norris finished very far ahead.”
“After 72 laps, we finished less than 5 seconds behind Max. If we consider that we started four or five places behind him, we can say that all that gap was accumulated in the first lap,” Vasseur explains. “It’s a good step forward, but we are not in Formula One to finish third.” – The Ferrari team principal concluded.
