Fred Vasseur reflects on “unlucky” Miami race and confirms Ferrari updates for Imola weekend

At the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, Scuderia Ferrari achieved a podium finish, but not without a touch of bitterness. The Reds, also adorned in blue for the occasion, battled closely with world championship leader Max Verstappen. However, they had not anticipated the significant step forward made by McLaren with the introduction of a very important upgrade package, which led to Lando Norris winning his first Grand Prix in Formula 1.

At the end of the Miami Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur typically spoke to Sky Sport F1 to comment on the team’s performance.

The French manager expressed satisfaction not so much with the result – which could have been more gratifying – but with the pace that the SF-24s demonstrated, despite not having yet installed any significant updates this season.

“We have been in competition with McLaren since the start of the season. They were close in Melbourne and have been quite competitive and close in other races too. However, I want to congratulate Norris, who achieved his first Formula 1 victory, and McLaren. We all approached Lando to congratulate him in the paddock; we are all happy for him.” – the French manager pointed out at the end of the Miami Grand Prix.

“For our part, we did quite well. The pace was there; we stayed close to Max throughout the race. We were a bit unlucky with the Safety Car, but that’s how it goes. The Safety Car is so used to seeing Max ahead that it came out in front of him. But that’s how it is. We must take away the positives, like the race pace, which was good.”

The start where Sergio Perez almost hit the Ferrari cars and Max Verstappen could have influenced the Reds’ race. Fred Vasseur thinks this, considering the difficulties of overtaking during the race. However, the team principal repeated that he was especially satisfied with the race pace shown by both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

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“Surely Perez’s start influenced things. It wasn’t ideal. If we look at the race, it was influenced by track positions, as it was quite difficult to overtake. And Carlos lost 2 positions due to that attack by Perez. So it certainly wasn’t a good thing for us and for Carlos.” – the Ferrari team principal explained – “Overall, though, we had an excellent race. Carlos’s pace was really remarkable, and we managed to recover up to the fourth position with him. He too was unlucky with the Safety Car, as he came in a lap before the safety vehicle entered the track. But that’s how it goes; we have to keep the positive sides of the weekend. Even without updates, we had pace every day.” – he added.

The Maranello team will introduce its first significant updates at Imola in a couple of weeks. The team expects to be able to reduce the gap to those ahead, but Fred Vasseur emphasized that the work on the track is what delivers the most performance to the car, even more than the updates themselves.

“I am sure that we will have a better race at Imola compared to this one. We know that everyone has brought many updates so far, but we still finished ahead of several cars. We’ve reached a point in the car’s development where if you bring something new, you gain tenths, not seconds. Years ago, it could happen; today, not anymore. McLaren brought a huge package of updates this weekend, but they weren’t half a second faster than everyone.”

“Undoubtedly, the gap to those at the top will be smaller at Imola, and we will be able to fight to win, but I believe there is a gap that varies from track to track and between compounds, more than dictated by the updates. We just have to go to the track and focus on our job, working with what we have. Certainly, the new features we will bring to Imola will help us, but it won’t depend all on that, but on how we work on the track,” concluded the Ferrari team principal.

Fred Vasseur, Ferrari