Fred Vasseur has given his take on what proved to be an eventful Las Vegas Grand Prix for Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc ending the race in third and fourth respectively after some strategy issues as well as radio complaints from Leclerc.
After attempting to challenge George Russell for the lead during the early stages of the race, Leclerc subsequently fell backwards due to struggles with his medium tyres. While his next stints on the hard tyre were better, Leclerc emerged on track ahead of Sainz after his second stop before being immediately overtaken by the Spaniard.
Sainz, meanwhile, faced some moments of his own, having been ordered to stay out on track just as he was about to head into the pits, resulting in the 30-year-old having to make a quick move back onto the circuit.
When asked after the race if he had anticipated the problems with graining on the medium tyres, Vasseur explained: “Not on the medium but it’s really depending on the pace that you want to have.
“I think Charles was behind Russell, and when he tried one lap to push and overtake Russell he blew up everything. It was towards our medium [stint] at the end, it’s really on the edge always and they have to trust their feeling also. It’s not an easy one but it is like it is.
2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix: Sainz furious after Ferrari pit stop confusion
“It’s true that at the end of the first stint in four or five laps we lost something like 10 seconds, and then you can’t pit also because you are in the shadow of the mid-pack, and if you pit at this stage you have to overtake everybody.
“It’s what happened with Carlos, we had to wait for the others that were pitting to pit [ourselves] and it’s a tricky situation, but it is like this.”
Leclerc was heard sending frustrated messages to the pit wall over the radio following the race and, when pushed on whether this was down to Sainz passing him after his pit stop, Vasseur answered: “Perhaps yes because we have to avoid to fight at this stage.
“I think that the opening stint you have to be [focused] on the management side and Carlos was already [on] Lap 3 or 4 of the stint. I think it’s more the fact that the situation was really difficult for everybody. We will discuss [it].”
With Sainz settling for best of the rest behind the Mercedes duo of Russell and Lewis Hamilton, Vasseur does not believe that Ferrari could have won the race even if they had approached things differently.
Vasseur does not believe that Ferrari could have beaten Mercedes to victory in Las Vegas
“I think overall Mercedes were faster,” the Team Principal said. “Perhaps this is a different approach in the weekend, but I don’t think that today from the starting grid that we [could] expect better than this.”
Now the Scuderia’s focus switches to the final two races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, with the constructors’ championship still a possibility as they trail McLaren by 24 points.
In terms of the team’s chances of claiming the title, Vasseur reflected: “I prefer to be 24 points behind than 200 – it’s still open, but we don’t know what could happen in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
“For sure on paper Qatar is not the best one for us but we are confident we are able to do a good job, and let’s be focused, let’s try to get the best and to keep McLaren under pressure for the last one. This is important because in the last one anything can happen, and we will push until the last corner of the last lap of the last race.”
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