F1 | Las Vegas GP – Ferrari fight back but still disappointing: Vasseur’s words after the race, with a message to the fans
It was not a Las Vegas Grand Prix to remember for Ferrari, as the team continues its disappointing spell as the fourth-fastest force. The words of Frederic Vasseur after the race summed up the situation clearly. After scoring two consecutive podiums between Austin and Mexico, the team led by Fred Vasseur seems to have lost its way again, with another underwhelming performance confirmed at the Las Vegas GP. Charles Leclerc finished only sixth after recovering from ninth on the grid, while Lewis Hamilton started from last place and climbed back to tenth.
But aside from the recovery drives from both Ferrari drivers, there was not much to save from this weekend. Hamilton was stuck behind Esteban Ocon for more than 20 laps without being able to complete the overtake, while Charles Leclerc — also affected by strategy — spent the second half of the race bottled up behind Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli. In the closing stages, Charles also suffered heavy graining, finishing only in sixth place.
Fred Vasseur’s words
Speaking to the media after the Las Vegas GP, Fred Vasseur commented on the race of both Ferrari drivers. “I think Hamilton had a good start, recovering well from twentieth place. But we were all a bit blind with the tyres, and we were surprised at the end by Antonelli’s stint with 48 laps on the hard tyres.” For Fred, the key difference was the clean air in front: “We struggled ourselves, while Kimi didn’t. But he did almost all of those laps in clean air, and that makes a huge difference.”
Regarding Charles Leclerc’s race and his strategy, the team principal added: “It wasn’t that simple to decide the timing of Charles’s pit stop. If we had stopped one lap earlier, we would have come out behind Carlos Sainz, but then again, it always seems easy to talk after the race. Leclerc had a difficult start because of contact with Alonso, but after that he had an incredible race.”
Fred Vasseur also made sure to send a message to all fans ahead of the final two rounds. “There are still two races left to run. I know it’s difficult to say this when you finish sixth, but overall this weekend the main problem was qualifying. Even the choice of downforce level wasn’t optimal. We must avoid making the same mistake in Qatar and Abu Dhabi if we want to win a race before the end of the season.” – the Ferrari team boss concluded at the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
It’s a familiar refrain from the Frenchman – maximise every weekend – but with time running out and Mercedes pulling further clear in the fight for second in the constructors’, the pressure is only growing on Maranello to finally turn strong race pace into strong results.
