Ferrari Group Principal Fred Vasseur was pressured to concede it was “troublesome to take positives” from a Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend that noticed each Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton retire.
Ferrari are concerned in a tense battle with Mercedes and Crimson Bull for second place within the Groups’ Standings, with Sunday’s zero rating placing the Scuderia on the again foot with three rounds to go.
Within the lead Ferrari, following an early Security Automotive interval, Leclerc seemed to maneuver across the exterior of Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri into second, however was clattered into after the battling pair collided. Shedding a tyre, Leclerc was pressured to retire his automobile.
Whereas Piastri acquired a expensive 10-second penalty, Vasseur had no real interest in taking part in the blame sport.
“It is a robust weekend,” he mentioned. “I had the sensation that with Charles, we had been in a very good place, that he had a very good begin, a very good restart, that he took margin on the kerb, and we’re paying the total value of the crash between Antonelli and Piastri.
“I do not care about who’s at fault between Piastri and Antonelli, however for certain, it was not Charles. It is robust as a result of on this combat, you’ll be able to’t quit factors. If you end up giving up factors, you’re giving factors additionally to the others. It is a double penalty, and in our case, it is very harsh.”
Hamilton’s Sunday was troublesome from the beginning, as Carlos Sainz made contact together with his automobile’s rear into Flip 1, and the seven-time World Champion later struck Franco Colapinto’s Alpine, inflicting injury to his entrance wing and flooring. After serving a five-second penalty, Ferrari opted to save lots of the engine and retire the automobile.
Because of this, Ferrari fell to fourth within the Groups’ standings – 36 factors behind Mercedes, and 4 behind Crimson Bull.
Commenting on Hamilton’s afternoon, Vasseur added: “We misplaced an enormous quantity of downforce. We nonetheless do not know if it was from the crash of Sainz or from the crash of the entrance wing below the ground, however maybe each of them. However after 200 metres, when you find yourself P20… if in case you have a have a look at what Max did immediately, with respectable tempo, I believe we are able to come again and you’ll rating good factors, however two crashes is an excessive amount of.”
Requested if there have been any positives for the workforce to take from the weekend, he mentioned: “It’s troublesome to take positives when you’ve gotten double DNF. However I might say that if I’ve to take a optimistic a part of the weekend is the tempo in Quali, the restoration, that even the beginning, the restart, we’re preventing, trying on the entrance, not trying on the man who’s behind us, making an attempt to assault and with a optimistic angle, and that is, for certain, good.
“However when you find yourself at this level of the championship, you’re extra centered on factors than on potential.”
