"We didn't have a new set of mediums" – Fred Vasseur justifies tire choice at Mexico GP restart

Frederic Vasseur commented on both Ferrari’s performance in the 2023 Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix and the incident involving Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez at the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, admitting some frustration over squandering the front row at the start. Both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were swallowed up by the two Red Bull cars, who had a significantly better start than the two Maranello drivers, with Sergio Perez having the worst in the contact at turn 1 with the Monegasque.

“Ferrari discards the front row at the start: Fred Vasseur’s analysis after the Mexican GP.
“We didn’t get off to a good start, but it’s not a matter of start management,” the team principal of the Scuderia said at the end of a bittersweet race for Ferrari. “The start wasn’t good; we gave slipstream to everyone and completely lost control of the situation.” – the French manager pointed out.

Then the analysis of the incident involving Charles Leclerc: “If you start poorly, you give slipstream to others. This put Carlos and Charles in a difficult position between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. That’s how the incident happened.” – he added – “We lost a piece of the front wing with Charles, and the situation turned into a mess for Carlos too. But the problem wasn’t the start management but the start itself. Max was already ahead of Carlos after a few meters.”

The start of the two red drivers didn’t go exactly as expected. The goal was, in fact, to take advantage of the SF23’s high top speed to fend off the assault of the two Red Bulls. The not-so-perfect clutch release of both didn’t help, with Max Verstappen immediately taking the lead at turn 1.

“We can’t be satisfied with the final position if we look at where we started,” the Frenchman added. “The overall weekend wasn’t negative, especially in qualifying. Even the pace in the first stint, despite the front wing damage, wasn’t far from Max’s.” – Fred Vasseur explained.

Restart after the red flag

“We struggled a lot more with the hard tires at the restart and in the final part of the race. There, we lost pace. We were also cautious about the length of the stint, using the hard tires, and we were on the limit. We were surprised that Hamilton was able to do so many laps with the mediums.”

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The decision by the Ferrari pit wall to opt for the hard tires after the red flag raised many eyebrows. Fred Vasseur himself was surprised by the distance Lewis Hamilton covered with the mediums, with the Brit even setting the fastest lap on the last lap.

When asked if he had already had a chance to discuss the poor start with Charles Leclerc, Fred Vasseur instead replied: “I haven’t talked to Charles about it yet. For the restart, we didn’t have new mediums, only the ones used after qualifying, and they were at the limit for us due to their durability. We’ll try again in Brazil by doing the best job possible in qualifying to be more consistent in the race. Overall, we’re still third and fourth. The result itself isn’t dramatic, but we need to do a better job next week.” – the Ferrari boss concluded.