Vasseur: Our riders executed the strategy perfectly

In Austria, the Ferrari drivers collected a total of 36 points in the sprint and in the race, repeating the team’s best result of the season. After the finish, the head of the Scuderia, Frederic Vasseur, summed up the race weekend.

Q: Charles Leclerc finished second, Carlos Sainz finished fourth. Was the race easy for the team?
Frederick Vasseur: The race is never easy when you watch it from the command bridge! We achieved a good result, which shows that the team is on the right track.

We had a good last race in Canada and now we performed successfully in Austria on a completely different type of track with a different surface and so on. But if we want to fight Max Verstappen, we have to take another step forward. We are working on it.

Q: At the start of the race, Carlos Charles did not attack at the request of the team and then held off Sergio Perez, helping his partner to guarantee second place. Do you agree that Sainz played a key role?
Frederick Vasseur: I don’t think Perez was a serious threat to us. We weren’t too worried about him, but Carlos did a great job.

The request in the first circles not to attack Charles was motivated by strategy. We decided that both riders should act in the interest of the team and not attack each other. Carlos was faster than Charles because he could use DRS and that’s why we didn’t want to change their positions. Our riders executed the strategy perfectly.

Q: Do you now feel safe from attacks from Aston Martin and Mercedes thanks to the new products now that Red Bull has been left out?
Frederick Vasseur: I don’t think “security” is the right word here! (laughs) I’m sure the contestants will continue to refine the cars and bring new items to the next stages. But we will do the same. The fight is very close and will continue until the end of the season. We worked well this weekend and need to keep the momentum going.