Today Charles Leclerc managed to hold position, but never really had a chance to attack the British McLaren driver, who ultimately won the Monte Carlo event.
At the end of the race, Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur commented on the Monaco Grand Prix – also offering a few thoughts ahead of next week’s Spanish Grand Prix – during an interview with Sky Sport F1.
A week ago it seemed impossible to think Ferrari could be competitive in Monaco…
“On Thursday we would have signed for second place. But after being first since Free Practice 1, we expected more from qualifying. Today we did our job, but honestly, it was impossible to do better or to overtake. With Lewis’ penalty, we only had one car to fight the McLaren cars, and that left us cornered. Charles did a great job, he was always there, but attacking was impossible.”
What do you think about the two mandatory pit stops in this race? Some drivers said it wasn’t ethically fair due to the strategies used by some teams…
“I have the feeling that some teams played team games by making one car slow down and giving their teammate a free pit stop. Two stops on this track allow for these kinds of tricks, and I can understand some drivers who found themselves stuck behind slower cars. You get blocked, and it’s not great. We’ll discuss this with the FIA, FOM, and other teams to understand how to move this situation forward.”
Do you already know if Lewis had any specific issues during the race? At one point he seemed to struggle.
“Yes, Lewis had excellent pace up to lap 35, when Alonso and Hadjar pitted and managed to rejoin the group alongside Verstappen. But with the backmarkers, he lost much more time than the drivers ahead of him. I think at least ten seconds. Then more cars arrived and he lost further time. That’s where he lost his race pace. But I think what really compromised Lewis’ weekend was yesterday’s penalty more than any issue with traffic or pace today.”
What do you think could change in Barcelona with the introduction of new front wing rules?
“It’s true that from Spain there will be new regulations for front wings, and all the teams will be expected to bring updates. Everyone has marked that race on the calendar as a potential turning point. We don’t really know if it will change anything in terms of the power balance on track. We need to focus on ourselves to improve in every type of corner. We’ve made good progress in high-speed corners, and we’ve done well here in low-speed ones. Now we’ll try to confirm everything in Spain.”
Will you bring updates to Barcelona?
“Yes, we’ll bring a new wing like all the other teams. And I think it makes sense to bring only the new wing to have a clearer picture of how it works.”
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