Ferrari accuses the laggards of having ruined the one-two finish in Mexico
If Ferrari achieved a good result at the Mexican Grand Prix, the team still has a bitter taste, accusing the backmarkers of costing Charles Leclerc dearly. According to Frederic Vasseur, three drivers should have received a penalty for not respecting the blue flag.
During the Mexican Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal, Frédéric Vasseur, did not hide his frustration after what he considers a missed opportunity for Charles Leclerc to finish in second place.
**Vasseur pointed out the lapped drivers for their lack of responsiveness to blue flags, which, according to him, seriously compromised Leclerc’s chances.**
A promising start to the race
The start of the race had started well for Ferrari. The off-track excursions of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris allowed Leclerc to position himself behind his teammate Carlos Sainz, putting Ferrari in a good position for a second consecutive one-two finish. Sainz and Leclerc were leading comfortably, while Norris was following them at a reasonable distance in third place.
However, the situation became more complex on the 62nd lap. Fighting to hold onto his second place, Leclerc made a mistake coming out of the last corner, allowing Norris to overtake him.
Frustration and incomprehension in the face of ignored blue flags
After the race, Vasseur expressed his anger against Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson, and Lance Stroll, whom he accuses of ignoring the blue flags, thus causing Leclerc to lose precious seconds: « Charles lost three or four seconds in traffic with some idiots. Norris came back, Charles pushed a little too much. Perhaps he also lost some tire temperature because of those guys. »
Vasseur did not hide his incomprehension at the lack of sanctions from the FIA towards these backmarker drivers: « Honestly, they must respect the blue flag and I don’t understand why the FIA didn’t penalize them. We had a four-second lead over Norris and after these three drivers, we were 1.2 or 1.3 seconds ahead. »
Leclerc, for his part, also expressed his frustration, especially when he found himself stuck behind Lawson, a situation he described as a joke over the radio.
If he admits that keeping Norris at a distance indefinitely would have been difficult, he considers that the incidents that occurred in the corners or turns before his oversteer had a decisive impact: «I went over the limit, I lost the car and I lost the position, but I felt that it was a matter of corners or turns before losing that position. »
Sainz also bothered
Although he won the race without being really worried, Carlos Sainz also raged at Lawson’s attitude. Held behind the New Zealander for several turns even though the blue flag was waving, he did not hesitate to express his anger on the radio: « Lawson, Lawson! It should be a penalty. He did two whole sectors in front! »
Vasseur, a bit bitter, concluded by emphasizing that the focus now needs to shift to the next race: “I’m a little annoyed by the blue flag incident, it cost us P2. But in the end, that’s how it is, we now have to focus on the next race and forget about this one.”
For Vasseur, it is not simply a matter of bad luck, but rather a question of errors in judgment by the drivers involved, whom he would have liked to see sanctioned.
