We made some mistakes: Vasseur rejects ‘harsh’ criticism of Ferrari’s Monaco Grand Prix pace
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ferrari's team principal Frederic Vasseur Monaco was hardly representative and Spain on Sunday would provide a clearer picture.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
MONACO – Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has rejected “harsh” criticism of the Formula One team’s Monaco Grand Prix pace, while apologising to Charles Leclerc for a mistake that cost him a likely first home podium.
Leclerc qualified third-fastest in Monaco
The top three finished in the same order on Sunday, with Max Verstappen winning for dominant Red Bull and Fernando Alonso second for Aston Martin. Leclerc was sixth and Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz eighth.
Ferrari have had only one podium – Leclerc’s third place in Azerbaijan – in six races and the sport’s most successful team are fourth overall.
Vasseur said Monaco, where overtaking is extremely difficult, was hardly representative and Spain on Sunday would provide a clearer picture.
“I don’t know if you are tough like this with Mercedes when they are behind us in qualifying,” the Frenchman said, when asked about the lack of pace in a video briefing on Tuesday.
“We were P3 in quali, less than one-tenth off the pole position, two-hundredths off the first row. I don’t think it was a disaster.
“I think we made some mistakes throughout the weekend, team and drivers together. But to say that the pace was not there in Monaco, I think is a bit harsh with us... to be able to fight for pole position for me was a satisfaction.
“The circumstances and the race scenario is the reason we did not show any pace. But nobody can say we were not on the pace.”
A stewards’ inquiry on Saturday found Ferrari failed to give Leclerc, who had been on pole in Monaco for the two previous seasons, any warning about Norris’ approach until he was directly behind the Monegasque.
Vasseur said that was a “proper mistake”. “I think it was not just a matter of communication, it was probably focus,” he said. “We made a mistake as a team and I know the effort that the drivers are putting in the quali and the intensity of the quali.
“At the end of the quali, I apologised to Charles. I think it’s the right way to manage it in the team.”
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s chief engineering officer Rob Marshall will leave at the end of the year to join rivals McLaren, both teams announced on Tuesday.
McLaren said Marshall will take the role of technical director, engineering and design when he starts at Woking on Jan 1, 2024.
Marshall has been at reigning champions Red Bull for 17 years, serving as chief designer from 2006 to 2016 – during which they won four successive drivers’ and constructors’ crowns with Sebastian Vettel.
He previously worked at Renault, helping them to both titles in 2005 with Fernando Alonso.
REUTERS
