Early in the Formula 1 season, Vasseur highlights McLaren and Ferrari’s potential to disrupt Red Bull’s dominance, signaling a competitive shift in the championship dynamics.
Fred Vasseur is pleased that McLaren F1 won the Miami Grand Prix. The Ferrari director is not happy to see his rivals succeed, but he appreciates early season confirmation of McLaren and Scuderia’s ability to pressure Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
“I think it’s been almost like this since the start of the season, depending on the circuit. Red Bull is always ahead. Max could have won without the safety car incident. They still have a slight advantage,” notes Vasseur.
“What is true is that compared to a year ago, when we are able to do good work and put everything together, we are there. This means that we are putting them under some pressure.”
“They have to be a bit more aggressive in their strategy. They are no longer in last year’s comfort zone, where, no matter what happened, they were ahead after the second lap.”
“I think this changes the game in race management. It’s an opportunity for us because if we make another small step, I think we will really be in a position to fight with them every weekend.”
Vasseur is not surprised that an evolution has given McLaren this pace, which had already shown early in the season: “It’s not the first time this season that McLaren has had a high pace, in Melbourne, for example, they were fighting with us.”
“Overall, I think three teams fought throughout the weekend within two or three tenths of each other, from lap to lap, stint to stint, or compound to compound. Lando overall did not surprise me. On Friday, McLaren was there, they brought an improvement this weekend.”
“If you look at the last two races, they have always been there. China had a good pace. It will be like this until the end of the season. I think McLaren and us will probably catch up a bit with Red Bull.”
Vasseur: McLaren and Ferrari Challenge Red Bull. Vasseur: McLaren and Ferrari Challenge Red Bull
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