Vasseur: We shouldn’t think that we are the fastest

During the Mexican race weekend, Frederic Vasseur said that Ferrari is now in an ideal situation: although the team from Maranello has a very real claim to victory in the constructors’ championship, the focus is mainly on the confrontation between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. who compete for the championship title.

“There is more and more discussion about the battle between Lando and Max, disputes between Zac Brown, Christian Horner, between Mercedes and I don’t know who yet – and for me this is an ideal situation,” says the head of the Scuderia. “We are very happy to have achieved our second victory in a row. Carlos worked perfectly this weekend, showing excellent pace from the first lap of the first practice and structuring the race very thoughtfully.

Although he lost the lead on the first lap, he then overtook Max with an excellent maneuver and controlled the course of the race. Charles also had a good pace, but he got caught in traffic, and while he was in front of the circles, he lost 3-4 seconds to some idiots, and when he tried to recoup, he attacked too aggressively and maybe because of that the The effectiveness of his ties decreased.

Some drivers, who were more than a lap behind, didn’t pay attention to the blue flags, and I wonder why the FIA ​​didn’t fine them. In total it cost us 2nd place. But to be honest, the weekend went well for Charles, even if he isn’t too happy with the result, and I completely understand him.

The Mexican circuit is too special, so we didn’t design the car with that in mind, which means we didn’t have a clear advantage there, and we had to constantly monitor the engine and brake temperatures to make sure everything worked. as efficiently as possible.

But the team did an excellent job. Since Monza our car has performed well on a wide range of track types, so we think we can be competitive in the remaining races of the season. But we have to keep working in the same spirit, because it’s not just about the potential of the car, but also about how the team works during the races.

Next weekend in Sao Paulo we will have to start all over again as all the top eight drivers can qualify for pole. Although we have a good situation in both championship classifications, we should not think that we are the fastest. We will be competitive on the Brazilian circuit, but the cars of all the top teams are close in terms of speed and everyone has a chance to win.

When we talk about the championship, we prefer to prepare each race separately. It is not a fact that we will be among the leaders in Sao Paulo, but it is absolutely certain that we will not change our approach.”