Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s concerns over Ferrari’s SF-23 are a bit exaggerated, claims Frederic Vasseur
Frederic Vasseur has defended the Ferrari SF-23 against Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz's claims that the car is not a right fit, saying that the Ferrari racer's are exaggerating the problem.
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The oldest and most successful F1 team in the history of the sport, Ferrari, seem to be knee-deep in more trouble now. They have lost out on a top-3 position in the World Constructors’ Championship with the first six races in the history of the sport, and are currently down in the 4th place. None of their two talented racers can be found in the top-5 on the Drivers’ Standings as well. And even though they added some upgrades in Miami, the results were below satisfactory since Carlos Sainz could only go up to P5 while Charles Leclerc finished the race in the P7 position.
The Scuderia were supposed to unveil some “Red Bull”-style upgrades ahead of their home race in Imola, but it got cancelled due to heavy storms. In Monaco, even though they appeared to be a strong force ahead of the Qualifying, Charles Leclerc suffered at the hands of a three-grid-place penalty for obstructing Lando Norris in Q3. Finally, Carlos Sainz started the race in the fourth place and Charles Leclerc had a sixth place start. Ultimately, even though Leclerc retained the same position at the end of the Main Race, Carlos lost some places and ended up as the 8th driver to cross the finish line.
During the post-race interviews, Charles Leclerc did say that he found his SF-23 “very difficult to drive in traffic”. Carlos Sainz was also not happy with how his race went because he lost four places to his rivals. But now, their Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has rubbished their claims about the Ferrari racecar being incompetent. The Scuderia Boss has defended the SF-23, indicating that Leclerc and Sainz’s claims are baseless–thus inciting a civil war within the team itself.
Frederic Vasseur points out to Charles Leclerc’s Monaco Qualifying dominance to prove SF-23 is competent
The Ferrari Team Principal, Frederic Vasseur, is having none of the complaints that their two racers have fired against the SF-23. Fred has defended his racecar saying that the Scuderia racers are exaggerating their problems, pointing to the fact that Leclerc was only 0.1 seconds behind polesitter Max Verstappen in Monaco. He said, “If the car was so difficult to drive, I can’t imagine that we could be 0.1s off Verstappen. I can understand perfectly their frustration but the comments that they are making half an hour after are a bit different.”
Frederic Vasseur remains optimistic about Ferrari’s chances even though their results seem disappointing given that it is such a huge team with a massive legacy. But on the other hand, Red Bull Chief Advisor Dr. Helmut Marko has expressed that he finds it baffling how the Ferrari Team Principal can be so ‘excessively optimistic’ amidst the poor results. Now, it remains to be seen if Vasseur’s optimism plays out and Ferrari get back to their winning way, or if Marko’s verdict comes true and they suffer throughout the season.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)