Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari Team Principalreferring to Ferrari’s decision not to exchange positions in between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Saintz at the start of the Austrian F1 GP. The Frenchman was in favor of the decision made by the team at that moment, where Carlos Sainz asked for a passage to ensure that he could have more rhythm than the Monegasque. Carlos was riding close to Charles before the ‘Virtual Safety Car’ appeared on lap 14. He did not attack, as the team had previously agreed. But just then, the double stop made by Ferrari taking advantage of the virtual safety car, clearly hurt the Spaniard.
Carlos lost time waiting for Leclerc to stop, with the Ferrari 2 seconds slower than expected. And he also lost time in his stop, another two seconds. That cost three places on the track, with Hamilton and Norris, who stopped at turn one then, and a ‘Czech’ who chose to stay away for too long and not stop. He had to make up those places, his tires were more damaged in his attack, and he had to push as hard as possible to make up for lost time. He had to take more risks and it caused him to make mistakes and break the track limits on several occasions, something that resulted in the first penalty of 5 seconds, and another 10 seconds later in the race. There was speed for the podium, but as he admits, “playing as a team” compromised his result. He was 4th on the track and finished 6th due to penalties.
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“We agreed before the race not to attack each other to protect ourselves from DRS because if someone has DRS, they win a lot. That was the team’s strategy. We would have been the same if Carlos or Charles is ahead. The strategy is to separate from the fourth “, assured Frédéric Vasseur on ‘DAZN F1’, also indicating that Sainz’s faster pace after Leclerc could be something that could open the DRS, something that Charles could not do. If it happened to him, it is not known if he would have been faster.
“Perhaps, Sainz has the speed for the podium”
“Maybe he has the speed for the podium. His speed is not far from Charles, but we have to study the strategy. I think it is the right strategy.”he commented.
“They put the ‘Virtual Safety Car’ later than necessary for us, but we cannot predict when the virtual will appear. The important thing is to focus on the fact that we are doing a good job together, the team and the driver . We are going in the right direction and I want to maintain this inertia”, added Vasseur, and with that stop, Sainz also lost time as the ‘Safey’ left the track then.
Step forward
Ferrari showed an important step forward in racing speed in Canada with its new updates, confirmed in Austria with more innovations presented at the Red Bull Ring, new parts created by Maranello against the clock due to the Italian team needs to improve. So far, the feelings are very positive. Can Ferrari maintain its improvement in race pace at the next Grands Prix? answered Vasseur.
“I do not know. In Canada we are very strong in race speed, it’s true, and we’re waiting for Spielberg to confirm it because it’s a different track and asphalt configuration. But the teams push and bring improvements and different circuits come. We have to continue developing the car, push and give the drivers a better product”, he concluded, proud of the improvement of the red cars in the last two races.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
