Fred Vasseur has given his take on a “difficult weekend” for Ferrari at the British Grand Prix, in which Lewis Hamilton just missed out on a podium in P4 while Charles Leclerc ended the day down in P14 after an early strategy call backfired.
Amid changing weather conditions at Silverstone, Leclerc opted to pit at the end of the formation lap for slick tyres, a gamble that failed to pay off as the Monegasque struggled to make his way back through the field.
Hamilton, meanwhile, looked to have good pace when the track started to dry later on but, after stopping one lap too early for slicks, was unable to catch Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg for the final spot on the rostrum.
Reflecting back on the eventful 52-lap encounter, Vasseur said: “We were a step down [on downforce] compared to McLaren. We had much more downforce than Max [Verstappen], but we were also much faster than Max.
“I’m not sure that the pure pace is the main issue today, but what is true is that on Charles, at least, the race was done on Lap 1. We made the call to pit for slicks.
“And then the main issue we had today was that we struggle a lot when we are in the dirty air to overtake, and we spend more [tyre] life to overtake, sometimes in 10 laps, and then we are much faster. But I think it was difficult. It was a difficult weekend, difficult for the strategy today.
“I think everybody has tonnes of regrets, except [Lando] Norris probably and Nico, but when you finish a race like this, you have always had the feeling that if I had pitted one lap before, one lap after, it would have been much better. But let’s be focused on the Quali and the championship.”
Pushed on how much of the decision for Leclerc to pit prior to the race start had been in the driver’s hands given the conditions, Vasseur explained: “The call is coming from the driver, for sure. But I have also to be fair, that I could have said no, but they are on track.
“I think the issue in this kind of situation is that you are doing the Formation Lap behind the Safety Car very slowly, and you have to assess the level of grip in these conditions, and I’m not sure that it’s that easy.
“[George] Russell and Charles took the decision to pit for slicks – easy to say at the end, but it was not the right call. But I think Charles [on] Lap 1 understood that it was not the right call.”
Vasseur also gave an insight into the issues that the team faced in timing Hamilton’s later pit stop.
“I think you can say now that it was probably one lap too early, also because he went straight in Turn 3, 4, and he lost four or five seconds in these two corners,” the Team Principal reflected.
“But I think it was [Fernando] Alonso who pitted before, and he was already faster on some corners than all the guys on the intermediate. It’s the kind of situation that, if you wait, the others are doing the move before you – it’s always too late.
“And I think it’s quite easy after the race to say that the first pit stop could have been better, to stop one lap before the second pit stop, to stop one lap later.
“But honestly, on this, when you have to take the decision on the pit wall, it’s a very tricky one, because you have to be always into the anticipation. And on the top, we lost the GPS of Lewis all the race. It means that we are completely blind and we didn’t know where the car was. It was a difficult one.”
With the season now at its halfway point, Vasseur has acknowledged that Ferrari – who sit in second place of the Teams’ Championship but with a deficit of 238 points to leaders McLaren – will struggle to catch the papaya squad, but remains positive about where the Scuderia stand against Mercedes and Red Bull.
“I think we are all lucid that it will be more than difficult to come back on McLaren,” Vasseur conceded. “First they have an advantage, sometimes on some tracks or some conditions we are able to fight with them, but overall, they have an advantage, and also they have a big advantage in terms of championship.
“And even if you win all the races until the end, I’m not even sure that you will be champion in that for sure. But we are still in the fight with Mercedes and Red Bull. We are still in the fight to win some races, and it’s important for the team.”
