Charles Leclerc’s second place in Austria must be realistically estimated: he crossed the finish line just over five seconds later than Max Verstappen, but the Dutch Red Bull Racing driver made a pit stop at the end of the stage to switch over on Soft tires and earn an extra bonus point for the best circle. And before this pit stop, Leclerc lost about 24 seconds on him, which more accurately reflects the speed advantage of the Red Bull car.
And yet in Scuderia they achieved the maximum possible result, thanks in part to the effective work of technical innovations: last weekend the SF-23 was quite fast both in qualifying and in the race, so Ferrari has every reason to believe that work on Chassis upgrades going in the right direction.
But there is still a lot to do, so we have to keep working hard – this is the main point of Ferrari president John Elkann’s comment after the Austrian Grand Prix. By the way, he was in the pits of the Scuderia yesterday.
“It was the best race of the season, we are all happy. It’s great to see Ferrari battling Red Bull in Austria on this interesting and challenging circuit,” said Elkann on Sky Italia. – We see progress in working with the car, and we also see Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz demonstrate their fighting skills – these are all positive moments.
The riders have the right attitude: they started from 2nd and 3rd position and fought at the front throughout the race. We also saw that Carlos did everything he could to keep Sergio Perez in check and that is also to be commended. It is important for Ferrari to move forward and forward step by step, because improvements can only be achieved gradually. We must never lose heart. Rivals’ victories should make everyone work even harder – the mood at Ferrari is and always will be.
With every race we strive to perform better, and it is very important that in Austria we have seen Ferrari meet everyone’s expectations, and all the reforms we are making in the team are helping to move in the right direction.”
When Elkann was asked about the contractual situation of Leclerc and Sainz, whose obligations to the team expire at the end of 2024, the Ferrari president replied: “As Fred Wasser emphasises, we now have other priorities that require top priority. Let’s just enjoy this moment: it’s great that our driver is on the podium, it pleases both the Ferrari management and everyone who works in the company.
Our drivers had a great time at the Austrian Grand Prix and it was Ferrari’s 800th podium, which was also an important achievement.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
