For Vasseur, the lack of evolutions has allowed Ferrari to avoid disorder

Ferrari is well in the fight for the constructors' title. During this four-week break between the Singapore Grand Prix and the one in Austin, Carlos Sainz had mentioned the importance of performing on a more traditional circuit, which would reveal the true pace of the Ferrari. So far, the team had only won on atypical circuits (Melbourne, Monaco, and Monza).

This Sunday, the race showed that the Maranello team is capable of competing with McLaren and Red Bull, even outperforming them, as was the case this weekend (Ferrari scored 55 points, 26 points more than Red Bull and 27 more than McLaren). An even more amazing result considering that, unlike its two rivals, Ferrari came to the United States without any upgrades.

A technical stability that has proven to be profitable.

While trailing by 75 points, the team led by Frédéric Vasseur has decided not to introduce any new features to their car, deeming them too risky in case of failure and fearing they could disrupt the car's optimal balance. Conversely, McLaren, leading the constructors' championship, has decided to incorporate seven new elements on its MCL38 this weekend in Austin. The Austrian team, on the other hand, has implemented two upgrades in Texas, focusing on the floor and engine cover. These developments are aimed at making the car more efficient but are risky as they require readjusting the settings due to the new design.

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This approach was fatal to Mercedes, which experienced a nightmare this weekend, especially for the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, despite the introduction of six innovations. These enhancements ultimately made the car more unstable, as evidenced by the two mistakes made by the Mercedes drivers at turn 19 (Russell in qualifying, Hamilton in the race). Ferrari has therefore decided not to take this risk and arrived with the same car as in Singapore.

Ferrari has favored internal evolutions rather than external ones.

A strategy that worked perfectly, the Italian team achieving a double victory this Sunday. According to Frederic Vasseur, the team's boss, the team is much stronger and calmer off the track, which eventually translated onto the track. « Performance does not depend solely on the external shape of the car », emphasized the Frenchman in front of the media, including RacingNews365.

We are at a stage of development where when you bring something, we talk about tenths of a second [in terms of speed], and there is much more to be done with the settings. It is true that when the team brings something, it sometimes represents progress in terms of performance, but it also creates some confusion in the settings. It is not always a step forward », he concluded. Internal improvements have therefore been introduced within the Maranello team, evidence of the tremendous work done by Vasseur since his arrival last year, injecting a new dynamic that seems to be bearing fruit this season. For the founder of the ART GP team, these internal improvements are just as important as those made on the track, although they are not always visible.

« But it's not because we don't declare anything that we don't bring anything. We must declare updates concerning the external form, but it's not because we don't declare anything that we don't bring anything. » In the constructors' championship, Ferrari has closed the gap to Red Bull to just eight points and is 48 points behind McLaren, still the leader. Ferrari hasn't said its last word in the title race, and its result in Austin is proof of that. A battle between three teams is shaping up for the end of this season, making the last five Grand Prix even more exciting.

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