Ferrari still has no plans to make any further improvements to its SF-24, its Formula 1 car for the 2024 season, for the remaining three races.
The Scuderia is 36 points behind McLaren F1 in the constructors’ championship, the gap having widened slightly in Brazil while it has decreased significantly since Ausin.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took a victory each in the latest hat-trick of races, allowing Ferrari to leapfrog Red Bull and put real pressure on McLaren, with 147 points remaining.
When Frédéric Vasseur was asked if Ferrari still had new components coming in 2024, the team principal joked: “Especially a lot of new parts after this weekend of accidents for Carlos (Sainz).”
“Honestly, no. We’ve been focusing on next year’s project for months now and nothing to come.”
Vasseur is not worried about the gap which has widened a little in the championship with McLaren.
“We knew the Interlagos track would be more difficult for us, probably a lot more favorable to McLaren and in the end this weekend we didn’t lose many points.
“Okay, I don’t want to lose points, I want to win points and have a better weekend than this one.”
“But it’s not a drama and we will probably have a much better weekend at the next race in Las Vegas.”
Meanwhile, Vasseur insisted that the intense discussions around Ferrari’s title prospects will not impact the team’s approach of taking each race as it comes.
“We have had the same approach for months now, we want to concentrate race by race because for me it is the best attitude.”
“You just have to focus on what you can do and not try to calculate and we keep it the same for the next race.”
“Honestly, I don’t remember the exact gap in the rankings, it’s you who tell me it every time, all I know is that it’s still largely possible and I want to continue like that. “
His position on the water in the tires controversy at McLaren F1
As a new controversy in Formula 1 rages, with Red Bull suspecting McLaren of injecting water into its tires, Vasseur wonders why a team would do such a thing and therefore refuses to attack its rivals.
“I don’t know where the accusations come from.”
“I’m not going to venture into that area because it’s one of the strengths of our team this year to stay away from all the controversies.”
“I don’t understand the theory because I think we are all trying to remove the moisture in the rubber, not add water or something to the tires.”
