Fred Vasseur looks back on Charles Leclerc’s complaints on the radio during the Las Vegas Grand Prix

After trying to regain the lead of the race from George Russell in the early laps, Charles Leclerc dropped back due to difficulties with his medium tires. Although his next stints with the hard tires were more successful, Charles Leclerc emerged from the pits in front of Carlos Sainz after his second stop, only to be immediately overtaken by the Spaniard.

On his side, Carlos Sainz also faced challenging moments, especially when he was ordered to stay on track as he was about to enter the pits, forcing him to quickly change trajectory to rejoin the circuit.

Interviewed after the race about the graining issues encountered with the medium tires, Fred Vasseur explained: « Not on the mediums, but it really depends on the pace you want to adopt. I think Charles was behind Russell, and when he tried to push to overtake Russell, he destroyed everything. On our medium relay, it’s always on a knife edge, and they also have to rely on their feeling. It’s not simple, but that’s how it is. »

He added: « It’s true that at the end of the first relay, in four or five laps, we lost about ten seconds. But you can’t come back to the pits at that moment, because you end up in the middle of the pack traffic, and if you stop at this point, you have to start all over again. That’s what happened with Carlos. We had to wait for the others to stop before making our stop. It’s a delicate situation, but that’s how it is.

Charles Leclerc frustrated

The frustrated Monegasque, sent several annoyed messages to his pit wall after the race. Fred Vasseur replied: « Maybe, yes, because we have to avoid fighting at this stage. I think in the first stint, we need to focus on management, and Carlos was already on his third or fourth lap of the stint. It’s more due to the fact that the situation was really difficult for everyone. We will discuss it. »

With Sainz better than the others behind the Mercedes duo composed of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, Fred Vasseur believes that Ferrari could not have won the race, even with a different approach.

« I think that in general, Mercedes was faster, » he said. « Maybe with a different approach over the weekend, but I don’t think today, from the starting grid, we could have hoped for better. »

From now on, the Scuderia is focusing on the last two races of the season , in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, still with a chance in the constructors’ championship, where they are 24 points behind McLaren.

« I prefer to be 24 points behind than 200. It’s still open, but we don’t know what could happen in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. On paper, Qatar is not the best track for us, but we are confident in our ability to do well. Let’s stay focused, try to give our best and maintain the pressure on McLaren until the last race. It’s important, because in the last race, anything can happen. We will push until the last corner of the last lap of the last race. »