The Baku race clearly outlined the current hierarchy: McLaren undoubtedly in the lead, but with a very competitive Ferrari ready to challenge Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s plans.
It was Oscar Piastri himself who emerged victorious from the duel with Charles Leclerc on the Azerbaijani street circuit, with the young Australian talent, aided by an unbeatable MCL-38 on the straights, able to keep any attack attempt from the Monegasque at bay.
After an extraordinary pole position on Saturday – his fourth consecutive on this track – Charles Leclerc once again failed to convert the pole start into victory, paying for a perhaps too conservative approach with the hard tires at the start of the second stint.
There was also disappointment for Carlos Sainz’s retirement, involved in a crash at turn 3 on the very last lap with Sergio Perez, which ended both of their races just a few kilometers from the checkered flag.
Despite the final blow and the lost podium with the Spaniard, Frederic Vasseur still sees the glass half full, aware that another chance can be played next week on another circuit historically friendly to the red team, Marina Bay in Singapore: “The race pace was good throughout the weekend, from the first lap of FP1 to the end of the race,” the French manager began in the post-race, commenting on the final result for Ferrari in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – “This is the most important thing. If with the same pace we could maybe bring home more points next week, it would be a good step forward.” – he pointed out.
And regarding Singapore, Frederic Vasseur believes that “The story could be different, because the type of corners will be similar, but with much more aerodynamic load. After Singapore, we’ll have a break before Austin. We’ll have time to talk about it, but first I want to see a good result in Singapore like last year. We are in a good moment and we have to continue like this to collect more points than we did today.” – he added.
Finally, the Frenchman also looked towards the constructors’ standings, with Ferrari now 51 points behind McLaren and six weekends still to go: “There will be ups and downs until the end of the season. What matters is winning when you’re in good form, but also collecting points when you’re not. In this, we failed in Canada, England, and Austria. That’s probably costing us a lot. But now we’re back in form and able to fight for pole and victory every weekend. There are still 300 points up for grabs. Everything is possible. It will be a long fight. Today things didn’t go our way, but better weekends will come.” – Frederic Vasseur concluded.
Source: f1ingenerale
