Frederic Vasseur looks at the positive aspects of the weekend in Mexico City but does not hide the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done.
McLaren ahead
The thirty-second gap to McLaren contrasts with Ferrari’s second consecutive podium, allowing the Scuderia to overtake Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship. Frederic Vasseur does not downplay the distance lost to the race winners, but at the same time he praises the team’s ability to put everything together between Austin and Mexico City. The Team Principal also commends Lewis Hamilton, although he disagrees with the penalty that affected the seven-time World Champion.
“Obviously, there is still a lot of work to do,” Fred Vasseur admits when asked about the 30-second deficit to Lando Norris’ McLaren, who had roughly half a second per lap advantage. “Overall, it was a good weekend for us, with strong qualifying pace. We are not far from fighting for pole position, and finishing second and third was a solid result. However, I think that by Friday afternoon Lando had already shown that he was on a different level in race pace. Today was the same; I believe he had at least five tenths advantage.”
In the second half of the race, Ferrari also faced a challenge from Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, benefiting from a tire advantage. Fred Vasseur does not speculate whether Charles Leclerc could have defended his position without the final neutralization, but he states that he was not overly worried: “On the pit wall, I do not have a crystal ball. If you cannot pass on the first lap, it becomes very difficult, and that applies to us as well as anyone else. This was the case for Oscar Piastri with Oliver Bearman and also with Antonelli. You can have six to seven tenths of advantage, but if you cannot overtake the car ahead on the first lap, it becomes extremely challenging. Honestly, I wasn’t too worried about the Virtual Safety Car, more about the restart.”
Hamilton’s penalty
During the early laps, Ferrari even considered the possibility of a double podium finish, which would have been Lewis Hamilton’s first for Ferrari. However, his race was compromised by a penalty with which Fred Vasseur disagrees. “Certainly, we did not follow the race director’s instructions, but I don’t recall anyone receiving a 10-second penalty. Looking at the bigger picture, with Max cutting 100 meters across the grass at the previous corner, I don’t think the situation was well managed, especially considering this is Mexico. I’m not saying the penalty should depend on the track, but you have to understand what you are doing. Giving 10 seconds dropped us to the back of the group without a chance to overtake. It probably cost us fourth place, which I think was achievable even with only a five-second penalty.”
After serving the ten-second penalty in the pits, Lewis Hamilton’s pace was not remarkable, but Fred Vasseur believes this was due to the circumstances. “I think today it depended more on the penalty that cost us five positions than anything else. Regarding Lewis’ pace, don’t forget that he missed the first practice session. He got into the car in FP2 and immediately was in the middle of Norris and Russell. […] It was a strong performance from him. We nearly made the podium, and it would have been a great story—I was thinking about it at one point.”
Although Lewis Hamilton remains without a podium, the Team Principal is satisfied with his performance: “Looking at the season so far, he is doing very well. Sometimes he had minor issues, whether in qualifying or in the race, and this weekend he put everything together. He made no mistakes and is delivering. It is also positive for the team to have both cars in the points.”
Steps forward
Overall, the team managed the car well during a challenging weekend, where high temperatures and thin air could have recreated the overheating problems already experienced in Singapore. “A large part of performance comes from cooling. To adjust the cooling of the car, brakes, engine, and every single element, you have to anticipate where you will be during the race, whether in traffic or not, and often this sacrifices some performance. This is the only weekend of the season where we run with such a high cooling level. Overall, in the last two events, we did well, and this weekend we were competitive from the very first lap.”
There was no breakthrough for Ferrari, but rather a well-executed use of the car, from driver performance to setup choices and race management. “We fight for tenths, if not hundredths, of a second. A gust of wind or dirty air in qualifying can move you from second to sixth position. This must be kept in mind. This weekend, I believe Lando was a step ahead, but behind him it was a tight battle from second to seventh. Probably in the last two weekends, we have taken a step forward in terms of putting everything together, without feeling like we left anything on the table, unlike Baku, Singapore, or that sequence of races where the potential was good, but we struggled to bring home points,” concludes the Team Principal.
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