Fred Vasseur: “A good podium, but we need to focus on winning. Let’s start from here”. Frederic Vasseur's comments after the Dutch GP.

Frederic Vasseur was right in saying that the Zandvoort race would offer completely different conditions compared to Saturday. Ferrari in the Dutch Grand Prix showed a different face from yesterday, delivering a race pace that exceeded expectations and even securing that podium, which Charles Leclerc had called miraculous after qualifying.

Carlos Sainz’s race was also excellent: starting from tenth position, the Spaniard finished fifth, and by the end of the race, he even closed in on the Charles Leclerc – Oscar Piastri duo despite not having solid references throughout the weekend. These are very positive signs ahead of the Monza weekend, which Vasseur welcomes with a smile and his usual balance.

Fred Vasseur’s comments

“It was a really good race. We approached it saying that we weren’t very optimistic for the Zandvoort weekend,” was his comment to Sky Sport F1 at the end of the Dutch GP.

“Qualifying was tough for both drivers, but today went very well with a good start, a good strategy, good pit stops, and excellent tire management from both drivers. Charles managed to keep Piastri behind despite Piastri having an advantage with the tires, as we had pitted much earlier. We need to be positive and appreciate the result, but we must keep in mind that Norris finished much further ahead, and we need to focus on winning, not on 3rd place.” – the French manager continued.

“Putting Norris aside, it’s a matter of tenths, and it’s true that sometimes you find a positive dynamic by not pushing too hard on the tires. We had the feeling from Friday that we were in better shape with used tires than with new ones. Today it was clear, and it was a positive weekend. Now we need to build the rest of the season on this foundation because we still have nine races to go, with some tracks suited to our characteristics and a new package coming,” he added. “Certainly, this result is positive for the team’s confidence, and we know that at Monza we will likely be in better shape in terms of the track. After 72 laps, we finished five seconds behind Max, considering we started four positions behind him, it’s a positive step but not enough because we are not in F1 to finish third. However, it is a nice step forward for us.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded.