A car on the podium, that of Carlos Sainz, and one just outside the points. This is the mixed result that Ferrari takes home from the 2024 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at the 4.318-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
While Charles Leclerc’s 11th place was the result of a contact at the start with Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez that damaged the wing of the SF-24 single-seater, the podium achieved by Carlos Sainz was a generous gift from the pairing of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, thanks to their contact in turn 3 on lap 64 while they were fighting each other for the race victory.
At the end of the race held at the Red Bull Ring, Frédéric Vasseur gave his usual summary of Ferrari’s weekend to Sky Sport F1. The Ferrari team principal spoke of a weekend with two sides, but also of the Maranello team’s determination not to take steps backward: Ferrari will build on what was achieved this weekend to do better at Silverstone, where Formula 1 will race in a week’s time.
Fred Vasseur, how do you rate Ferrari’s weekend in Austria?
“We have mixed feelings, because in the end, the podium is a good result. Overall, as far as the standings are concerned, it wasn’t a bad weekend. Yet, over the course of the weekend, we were in a position to do a better job and achieve a better result. We had problems in qualifying with Leclerc for both the Sprint Race and yesterday. In today’s race, we had the chance to do a better job, but the podium is still a good result.”
Will you take steps backward to try to regain the form Ferrari had until the end of the Monaco GP?
“For Silverstone, we won’t take any steps backward. We will continue to work and look ahead. We need to develop what we have by doing a better job than this weekend, although, in reality, over these days, we made a good step forward if we look at the performance between Friday, Saturday, and today. But it’s not enough.”
“We need to keep pushing and developing to fight with both cars at the front. Now we need to work on Silverstone, and we will have two sessions on Friday to prepare the car well. We need to focus on the future, starting from today’s base. The latest updates we brought have allowed us to regain aerodynamic downforce points, and we need to build from there.”
How do you rate the first-lap incident that forced Charles Leclerc to pit to replace the damaged nose?
“I think the incident involving Leclerc at the start of the race was a racing incident. There were three drivers side by side. He found himself between two, and perhaps Piastri closed him in a bit, and Perez went inside, but, yes… I would say a racing incident.”
In your opinion, what is currently the best car in Formula 1?
“I don’t think there is an absolute best car. I think it depends from weekend to weekend, on the characteristics of the track, on many factors. It’s very hard to say. In Monaco, it was us; yesterday, it was Red Bull with Max. If we look at today’s race, I would say Norris, but I think it was also a matter of tire management, because Max struggled more than on other weekends.”
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