Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur doesn’t see everything black and defends Charles Leclerc
There are also positives to be found in Maranello after the Hungaroring.
Ferrari was also opaque at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc seventh after a five-second penalty and Carlos Sainz eighth under the checkered flag. A disappointing test, against which team principal Frederic Vasseur tries to find something good. Albeit in the knowledge that once again there were too many team mistakes.
“We are certainly frustrated,” Vasseur admitted to the microphones of ‘Sky Sport,’ “but in the end if we look at the race I think that without the 7-8 seconds lost at the pit stop, the five from the penalty and the traffic, Leclerc could have finished in another position. Certainly, however, we cannot afford all these mistakes if we want to be competitive.”
“The race pace was not at astronomical levels, but at least it was not that far behind Hamilton’s,” Vasseur added. “When the conditions are like these, however, we cannot afford even one mistake. The positives of this weekend are in the higher-than-expected race pace, the negatives are to be found in the fact that in qualifying we struggle to put together the qualities of the design.”
“If we compare our race pace to Hamilton’s, they almost match. Last week, on the other hand, it hadn’t been like that, and I was a little afraid of tire degradation because of the high temperatures here in Hungary today. Overall it was not a bad race in terms of pace. It is for the results we take home,” Vasseur admitted.
Finally, the Ferrari team principal addressed Charles Leclerc’s very calm analysis at the end of the race. “One cannot complain to him when he pushes too hard or exceeds in nervousness, and also complain when he is reflective. I think his analysis of the weekend was correct. He knows that collectively we made too many mistakes, but that the package was not bad today. The room for improvement is there, and he as well as the team are focused on our growth. He and Sainz must be able to criticize and push the team, but calmly,” Vasseur concluded.
