Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has admitted that his team was aware that they would be facing a challenging outing in the cold conditions in Brazil. The Scuderia accepted their fate after struggling to get their tires into the operational window, and Vasseur feels they could fall victim to a similar fate in Las Vegas.
“We knew it would be a tricky one due to the starting positions and the cold conditions,” Vasseur admitted while speaking to the F1 media after the São Paulo race. “Lewis had a fantastic start and made up a lot of places, but as the stint progressed, his performance dropped off, as was also the case with Charles.”
Tire temperature management remained the biggest weakness of the day for the Ferrari cars, as both drivers struggled to maintain consistent grip as the race went on. As a result, the pace of the cars also varied with each lap, leaving Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in a tricky position with their machines.
The Ferrari team principal also took the opportunity to express concern about potentially facing similar issues at the next round of the championship. With Las Vegas also experiencing low temperatures, the Italian outfit could face another difficult outing in two weeks.
Lewis Hamilton Has a Message for the Ferrari Fans
Starting the race from P20, Hamilton flew off the line in Brazil, making up a staggering 11 positions on the opening lap itself. However, the pace led nowhere, as grip issues ensured Hamilton would fall back down the order.
“Devastated by yesterday’s race, especially with how it ended. It started so well, but we struggled with the tires and massive oversteer,” said Hamilton in a post on social media. He added that things became even more difficult given the conditions, and while he tried to push as hard as he could, the pace wasn’t there this weekend.
On race day, Hamilton was the first driver on the grid to change from inters to slicks, and was making steady progress. But the race turned on Lap 62, when rain returned quickly. The British driver decided to stay out one more lap before pitting, and just as he arrived at the pit lane, his car spun, sending him further down the order.
Hamilton ultimately recovered to a P9 result, but he was a lap down from Lando Norris when the checkered flag fell, marking an unfortunate end to his 400th Grand Prix.
The Ferrari Car Was a Complete Disaster for Charles Leclerc
Similar to his teammate, Leclerc was also given a grid penalty for taking on a new power unit, but his was not as bad as that of Hamilton. The Monegasque driver started Sunday’s race from 13th on the grid, and while Hamilton had a strong push off the line, the case was very different for Leclerc.
Likewise, the No. 16 driver said that he was struggling to get his tires up to temperature right from the start. Unlike his teammate, he found the rhythm as things went on, but by the time he got his tires up to temperature, there was very little free air ahead of him, which stagnated his progress.
In the end, Leclerc kept calm and crossed the finish line in P7, but there was more bad news in store for him. Leclerc was demoted to eighth after being served a five-second time penalty for a collision with Liam Lawson, costing him and his team two points.
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