Scuderia Ferrari’s Pursuit
The impossible mission was not completed. However, for a moment, with the incident between Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in turn 1 and Charles Leclerc’s powerful recovery in the early laps, the idea of beating McLaren seemed a little less like a mirage. Thus, the disappointment on Charles Leclerc’s face on the Abu Dhabi podium was also that of Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari’s team principal, who spoke to Sky microphones shortly after the checkered flag.
Fred Vasseur Speaks After the Abu Dhabi GP
“We are all disappointed,” said the French manager, “but we did the best we could. It was a very good race by Charles and Carlos, and in the end, we are not very far from McLaren, only 14 points behind (in the Constructors’ standings), but it wasn’t today that we lost the championship. Instead, we are satisfied with the work we’ve done and the improvements throughout the season, especially with how we reacted when we had issues. The final result is this; we came very close to winning, so we are a bit disappointed. I must congratulate McLaren; I think they did an exceptional job. We’re also on the same trend because this year we’ve done better than last year, fighting until the end for the title. I have a lot of respect for them, for the company, for the drivers, and for the team, so I must first congratulate them.”
Fred Vasseur’s Rating for Ferrari
“We know,” he added, “that we didn’t do a perfect job this season, that there’s still room for improvement in every single aspect. But I’m also very proud and happy with the journey, especially the last few months. It’s a good start for 2025 as well. My rating for this season? It’s 6 or 7… I know I’m a bit harsh, but there’s room for improvement, and we need to stay motivated. I’ve seen the people in the team work together; we’ve had tough moments in Canada, with the update in Spain, and with incidents in Singapore and Baku, but each time we came back stronger after the setbacks, and this is positive for the future.”
The Key Moment of Ferrari’s Season
After the Abu Dhabi GP, Fred Vasseur pointed to the update introduced between the British and Austrian GPs as one of the key moments of the 2024 Formula 1 season: “That’s when we realized the updates weren’t working well, and we changed everything to try again. Everyone was very open about it, there was no internal conflict, and that’s a good sign. Tomorrow, I’ll be able to say that it was a very positive season, with 5 wins compared to one last year and about 50 more points, but there’s clearly also the frustration of having ended with more than 600 points but 14 behind McLaren, which is a very small margin. Hamilton? Today, I wasn’t focused on him, but he did a great job recovering and overtaking Russell at the end. But we’ll think about it next year, I’m happy because we’ll have a great group of people working together.” – the French manager concluded at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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