Ferrari clinch another F1 podium as Vasseur praises race strategy but urges sharper tyre understanding to sustain momentum in championship fight.
Fred Vasseur is pleased to have secured another podium in Barcelona, especially since it was not what Ferrari had expected going into the weekend. The Scuderia boss admits, however, that he is hoping for more from the Grands Prix and is still aiming for further improvements.
“We have good momentum at the moment even though third place is not the objective, so we’re looking ahead to see where McLaren is. We’ve made solid progress over the last three races, we took a gamble today that paid off,” Vasseur told Canal+.
“It was difficult to read the tyres and determine which one was the most effective and the most durable. Everyone had surprises during the race, but it was well managed and Charles did a good job, it’s a podium result, we’re back in second place in the championship, so it’s a step forward.”
His overall assessment of the weekend and the race pace is positive: “It was a good race, another podium after Monaco, we’re back in the championship fight and it’s the third solid race in a row.”
“Imola was poor in qualifying but strong in the race, so those are encouraging signs. Now we need to start from better positions in the coming races, because starting sixth and seventh makes it difficult. Our race pace wasn’t bad compared to McLaren but they’re still ahead.”
Asked why Lewis Hamilton did not resist Nico Hülkenberg despite having fended off Charles Leclerc earlier, Vasseur immediately dismissed conspiracy theories suggesting that his driver might have been trying to harm his teammate’s race.
“He had no tyres left, we were not in a good place with that final set. He didn’t try to lose time in the overtake because there were three or four cars behind and he didn’t want to risk losing positions.”
Tyres remain a crucial battleground, and the Frenchman acknowledges a degree of frustration in that area: “We’re still in a phase of trying to understand what’s happening with the tyres, how to be consistent with them.”
“And over the weekend we made strategic choices that turned out to be effective, but it’s hard to tell the difference between the three compounds in terms of durability and performance.”
“The performance is there and we need to be more insightful about that. I’ve been doing this for 35 years and for 35 years, every Sunday we get a good result and think we’ve understood the tyres, only to feel completely lost the following week.”
“I’m not drawing any hasty conclusions but it feels like we’ve done a good job over the past few weekends. We’re on the right track compared to Mercedes but no one can claim to fully understand the tyres.”
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