Ferrari showed solid race pace at Imola, but Vasseur remains frustrated by poor qualifying, calling for sharper execution on Saturdays.
After a disappointing qualifying session yesterday at Imola, where neither Ferrari made it into Q3, the Scuderia displayed a much stronger performance and race execution today.
With Lewis Hamilton finishing 4th and Charles Leclerc 6th, it was clearly a much better result than the day before, underlined by a race pace matching that of the front runners.
Fred Vasseur admitted he was both satisfied and frustrated this evening in the Imola paddock.
“It’s a good Sunday for us with a strong recovery, solid pace and a well-managed and well-executed strategy. Well done to the team and the drivers, we can be proud of the work achieved today,” the Frenchman said.
“If we want to be more aggressive or pessimistic, we paid the price today for yesterday’s qualifying. It was the same in Miami, the same in Jeddah, and we need to do a better job on Saturdays.”
“I don’t believe in the word ‘luck’. It’s not luck when you face the same issue in Jeddah, Miami and Imola. It simply means we need to do a better job.”
As for being so close to the podium, Vasseur admitted, “The positive point is that the pace was strong from start to finish. The strategy was good and well executed. I’m a bit frustrated because if we had started the race in a better position, we could have done more. There’s a real delta between our qualifying and race pace that our rivals don’t have.”
Vasseur also highlighted the good harmony — after the radio outburst in Miami — between both sides of the garage when Charles Leclerc let Lewis Hamilton through on much fresher tyres at the end of the race.
“We were under investigation following Charles’ overtake on Albon. At that point, we understood the situation was very tense. In any case, it made sense to give up the position with the pace Lewis had. We asked Charles to give back the place to Albon because the race was very tight and, had he been penalised, we could have lost four or five positions.”
“It’s true that the Virtual and actual Safety Cars didn’t help him and I understand his frustration. But at the time of the Safety Car intervention, there were still too many laps left to go for softs and I think keeping him on the hards was the right decision.”
Ferrari: Hamilton and Leclerc Stage Impressive Comeback at Imola
Lewis Smiles, Charles Remains Frustrated
Lewis Hamilton finished just shy of the podium at Imola, thanks to a well-executed strategy and timely use of safety cars during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver’s fourth place finish brought a smile to his face at the finish line.
“I’m over the moon. Honestly, I slept badly last night and today was such a contrast. I’m really happy for the team, for the tifosi. I thought a lot about how to put together a strong race and we received so much love from the crowd today.”
“The team did an incredible job, the pit stops were flawless, it’s well deserved and we just missed out on the podium.”
“I really didn’t expect us to finish fourth, I had no idea where we would end up given how far behind we were yesterday.”
“The car was really excellent and the team executed a fantastic strategy, they were flawless. We are getting there little by little and Riccardo and I did a great job communicating.”
“I was calm and I think he was too, just like the rest of the team in executing the strategy, and the pit stops were brilliant.”
“Unfortunately, although our race pace is very good, we still haven’t found the magic window to get the tyres working in qualifying and that costs us on Sundays with poor starting positions. It’s a combination of small things that we need to get right to solve the tyre issue.”
“Others have brought upgrades and made progress but we have some coming too. In terms of setup, this has been my best weekend. I’m really happy to end the weekend with a smile for Ferrari and our fans.”
Charles Leclerc finished sixth, having to let Alex Albon back through after believing he had secured fifth with a clean overtake. However, the stewards instructed him to give the position back.
“I don’t know, apparently it’s under investigation because the team told me to let Alex by. I didn’t think there was an issue.”
“The rules are written a certain way, we use them to the maximum and I didn’t see a problem. We’ve seen it many times, and often it’s not penalised because the rules are written a certain way and we use them fully.”
As for the race, Leclerc was far less upbeat than his teammate.
“It’s frustrating because we had a good race. Unfortunately, both safety cars came at the wrong time for us. We couldn’t take advantage of the second one because we only had soft tyres left, and Lewis decided to pit at the last moment.”
“I didn’t know how many positions I’d lose by double-stacking behind Lewis so I chose not to pit. It’s disappointing because at the start I thought everything was going in my favour. We had good pace and performance, and the safety cars ruined our momentum.”
After a tough weekend in Emilia-Romagna, Leclerc was asked about his optimism ahead of Monaco, his home race which he won in 2024. The response was short and sharp: “No.”
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