Fred Vasseur: "Carlos Sainz is very consistent, he has had two difficult races out of 36"

Frederic Vasseur defended Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, emphasizing that for the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari needs a lot of points from both drivers, along with improvements to the SF-24 single-seater in the second part of the season.

Ferrari needs the best Carlos Sainz
Only Zandvoort and Monza will reveal if the Belgian Grand Prix was an isolated incident for Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard, who recently reached an agreement with Williams at Spa-Francorchamps, was lackluster and uninspired in the last weekend ahead of the summer break, possibly because showcasing himself to Red Bull or Mercedes no longer served any purpose (given those opportunities have faded).

However, regaining the best version of Carlos Sainz is a must for Ferrari, which currently stands third in the Constructors’ Championship, 63 points behind Red Bull and 21 points behind McLaren. These are not insurmountable distances, but to close the gap, it is crucial to secure significant points with both drivers (in addition to improving the SF-24 with the upcoming aerodynamic upgrade package).

Frederic Vasseur’s comments
The French manager is absolutely convinced that the performance in the Belgian Grand Prix was just an anomaly for the Spanish driver: “One of Carlos’s qualities is his mental toughness. I’ve only seen two difficult races for him out of the last 36 (35 considering Jeddah 2024, ed.). He is very consistent, always present. He is very dedicated to the cause, focused, and has a good understanding of the car,” he said in a recent interview for the official F1 website.

The Ferrari team principal also defended Charles Leclerc’s performances: “After Monaco, we had a sequence of difficult weekends. We weren’t doing too badly in Canada. What is clear is that the car has been a bit more challenging to drive over the past two weekends, and the expectations for Charles are a bit higher. Team life is full of ups and downs: we’ve always discussed things with Charles, he knows our situation, he knows what we do well and what we do wrong, and he knows that he has also made some mistakes. But we are not trying to blame anyone. We’ve been working together for years, we know each other perfectly, we know that we are pushing and that we just need to fix things. We are absolutely not in a situation of pointing fingers at anyone.” – Fred Vasseur concluded.

Fred Vasseur, Carlos Sainz