FIAsco in Sao Paulo for Ferrari: Vettel and Leclerc opt for calm

The Brazilian Grand Prix turned into a fiasco for Scuderia Ferrari, as both its drivers collided towards the end of the race, losing a potentially good result.

The worst-case scenario therefore unfolded 6 laps from the end for the Italian team, whose key figures involved in the incident seem to want to keep a cool head, like Charles Leclerc, who was rather measured in his post-race statements: “I haven’t spoken to Seb [Vettel] yet,” the Monegasque said before adding, “But I’m sure we’re mature enough to put this behind us because for the moment, we’re extremely sorry for the team since the result is there: neither car finished the race and it’s really embarrassing. We will move on and continue working together in the future.”

The current 4th in the drivers’ world championship, who was overtaken in the standings by the day’s winner, Max Verstappen, still reflected on the circumstances of the collision, as seen from his cockpit: From my side, I overtook at turn 1 and I really liked that move. Then, at turn 3, I was very close and I knew Seb was going to try something and he did. He went around the outside where there was a little bit of space. I left a space, he took it, and towards the end of the straight, he started to squeeze me a bit inside and we were very close and as soon as he went inside, we touched and I got a puncture.

Less talkative, Sebastian Vettel nevertheless doesn’t blame his teammate for this unfortunate collision: « I didn’t have much room on the right and clearly I had a better exit from turn 2, so I tried to overtake him in turn 3, that’s all. It’s really a shame for the team because we didn’t finish the race, and that’s our priority. We are, I am, sorry for the team. »

The four-time German world champion does not want to add fuel to the fire and prefers to analyze the situation calmly with his team: « In any case, I think that when two drivers collide, at the end of the day, they both have at least a small or partial percentage of responsibility. But I don’t want to judge now and give my own opinion on the crash… There will be time to judge. We will do that together. »

The calming rhetoric is also being used by Mattia Binotto, who believes that everything happened very quickly and that the situation needs to be analyzed calmly: “It’s the kind of situation that should not occur. I will not comment on the accident; we will have the opportunity to discuss it internally, review all the videos, analyze the data, and talk with the drivers. I am not going to do it on the spot,” concluded the Sporting Director of the Reds.