Fred Vasseur reflects on Ferrari’s difficult weekend at Silverstone

Fred Vasseur delivered his analysis of a difficult weekend for Ferrari at the British Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton finished very close to the podium in 4th place, while Charles Leclerc ended up 14th after a failed strategy at the beginning of the race.

A good pace but a late strategy

In changing weather conditions at Silverstone, Charles Leclerc chose to pit at the end of the formation lap to switch to slick tires — a gamble that did not pay off, as the Monegasque struggled to climb back up the field.

Lewis Hamilton, for his part, showed good pace once the track dried up, but a pit stop one lap too early to switch to slicks prevented him from catching up to Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) for third place.

Reflecting on this eventful 52-lap race, Fred Vasseur stated: « We were a notch below (in aerodynamic support) compared to McLaren. We had much more downforce than Max, but we were also much faster than him. I’m not sure that pure pace is our main problem today. What is certain is that for Charles, the race was decided from the first lap. We made the choice to switch to slicks. »

« The real issue is that it’s very difficult to overtake in the dirty air. We wear out the tires more while being stuck, sometimes for ten laps, and then we are much faster… But it was complicated. A difficult weekend, a difficult day in strategy », he explains.

« I think everyone has tons of regrets today, except maybe Norris and Nico. But when you finish a race like this, you always have that feeling: ‘if I had pitted a lap earlier, or a lap later, it would have been much better.’ But let’s stay focused on the qualifiers and the championship.

Bad choices in the race

When questioned about the driver’s responsibility in Charles Leclerc’s decision to change tires before the start, Fred Vasseur clarified: « The call comes from the driver, that’s certain. But to be fair, I could have said no. That said, they are the ones on the track. The problem in this kind of situation is that we do the formation lap behind the safety car, very slowly, and we have to assess the grip level in these conditions… and I’m not sure it’s easy. »

Russell and Charles made the decision to switch to slicks, it’s easy to say in hindsight, but it wasn’t the right choice. Charles realized it from the first lap, he states.

Fred Vasseur also commented on the bad timing of Lewis Hamilton’s pit stop. We can say now that it was probably one lap too early, especially because he went straight on in turns 3 and 4, which cost him four or five seconds. But I think it was Alonso who stopped before, and he was already faster in certain corners than everyone else who stayed on intermediates.

« In this kind of situation, if you wait, others move before you — and it’s always too late.

It’s easy to say in hindsight that we should have stopped one lap earlier at the first stop and one lap later at the second…

« But honestly, when you’re on the pit wall having to make the decision, it’s extremely delicate, because you always have to anticipate. Plus, we lost Lewis’s GPS for the entire race. We were completely blind, we didn’t know where the car was. It was complicated », the Frenchman detailed.

Ferrari widens the gap with McLaren

At mid-season, Fred Vasseur acknowledges that Ferrari — currently 2nd in the constructors’ championship but 238 points behind McLaren — will have difficulty catching up with the papaya team, while remaining confident against Mercedes and Red Bull.

« I think we are all clear-headed: returning to McLaren will be more than difficult. They have an advantage, and even if on certain tracks or under certain conditions we can fight with them, overall, they are ahead », he said.

« And even by winning all the races until the end, I’m not sure we’ll be champions. But we are still fighting with Mercedes and Red Bull. We can still win races, and that’s important for the team », he concludes.

Read also: The CEO of Ferrari speaks after doubts about the future of Fred Vasseur