Vasseur: It’s important to take a break with a good result

Ferrari scored 10 points in Hungary to close the gap to Aston Martin for third in the Constructors’ Championship, but was not satisfied with the race results.

Frederick Vasseur, team leader: “Not the best result. The race proved difficult for Charles after he lost some seven seconds in the pits due to problems with the key. This left him stuck in traffic and subsequently given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

With Carlos we took the risk of starting on Soft which helped to gain back a few places at the start of the race, but we understood that after an early transition to Hard rubber he would have to save. But having started from 11th, he finished the race in eighth ahead of Alonso, so the result is not bad.

I feel we are not that far behind the rivals in terms of car efficiency, but we are not able to get everything done over the course of the weekend. We showed our potential on Friday, but were unable to develop it on Saturday and Sunday. Now we are preparing for Belgium – it is important to go into the summer break with a good result.”

Charles Leclerc (7th): “I had a good start and was running at a good pace in the first stint, but then a hitch in the pit stop forced me to bounce back.

The penalty after the second pit stop further complicated the situation, so overall my day turned out to be not the most successful. I am now looking forward to the race in Spa and hope that we can finish the first half of the season with a good performance there.”

Carlo Sainz (8th): “I had a great start, I gained five places on the first lap, had a good first stint on the Soft and managed to extend the life of the tyres. Unfortunately, with the Hard lineup on longer stretches, we faced the problem of rear tire degradation and didn’t have enough speed to fight the leaders. This is now our weak point.

We expected more on the Hungarian circuit, we need to improve in key areas to achieve more in the future.”