Savoring the double of his troops in Austin, the main team of Scuderia Ferrari Frédéric Vasseur looks to the future by even considering worrying McLaren and Red Bull in the championship.
Who expected such domination of the SF24s of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the twists and turns of COTA? The good pace during the Sprint suggested an opportunity, but not to the point of signing a resounding double after more than 20 seconds ahead of the competition.
The French manager was obviously drinking whey by reaping the fruits of his policy of stability and methodical progress in calm since he took over responsibilities at Maranello at the start of 2023.
Ferrari has returned to the constructors’ championship, 8 points behind Red Bull Racing and 48 behind McLaren: needless to say, by confirming its Texan superiority, the Scuderia could still have a say in the title.
Very good work
“It was a perfect Sunday, rejoiced Fred.
We did a very good job this weekend, scoring a lot of points, but we have to stay focused and not think that we are champions just because of today’s result.”
“When you have the slight advantage that we had, it’s a lot easier to do a good job, he notes.
The car has improved a lot in terms of handling compared to what we had a few races ago and that contributed to the result.”
Strategy under control
“We knew the departure was going to be important,
he emphasizes. It jostled a bit in front of us, we took advantage of it, and after that we had a fantastic pace until the end of the race. Our pace was always under control, as was the strategy with both drivers.”
“Charles had a perfect start and managed the tires well, while Carlos had to stop earlier than expected to undercut Max Verstappen, he recalls. Once he was in the open air, he was able to set his pace and secure second place.”
The championship is still open
“Next week in Mexico will be a completely different story, the altitude doing a unique run, which adds to the challenge, where you have to focus a lot on cooling down, insists the Ferrari boss. Just because you’re fast in Austin doesn’t mean you’ll be fast in Mexico.”
“This double is a great motivation for next week, he concludes. As for the championship, we are tackling the races one after the other, but there are still a lot of points to take, especially those from the Sprints, so everything is still possible.
