Ferrari trio of Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Frederic Vasseur reflect on 1-2 in F1 US GP, as they close in on the constructors’ title fight.
It was looking good for Ferrari in F1 US GP weekend, even on Friday. The only blip was their one lap pace on the soft compound. That set them slightly back in the sprint qualifying, but they came all guns blazing in the sprint race, especially Sainz, who ended up second on the road after a last lap pass.
Leclerc backed him up in fourth, missing third by just. They couldn’t improve in main qualifying after the yellow flag period, but the start on Sunday was mega. The Monegasque made the most of the fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, to pounce on them at Turn 1 and lead the F1 US GP.
Once in the lead, there was no looking back. Even though he was slightly nervous, he had it under control all-through to register his third win of the year. Sainz managed to pip Verstappen in the pits to be second and make it a Ferrari 1-2. He had a slight power issue early on, which set him back in the fight for a potential win.
The 1-2 finish helped Ferrari to be just eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ and 40 behind McLaren, with just five races to go. And the trio believe that there is a real chance of the teams’ glory against their two rivals. The drivers’ too is an outside chance for Leclerc, but he is realistic that it is maybe a bit too far.
On the other side, both Leclerc and Sainz had good praise for its strategy department after head strategist Ravin Jain represented Ferrari on the podium. Vasseur too felt that the team executed the grand prix well. He was not too worried about the sprint tussle either.
Race, start –
Leclerc: “It feels really good as every victory feels special for its own reason and obviously from the start I felt really good with the car. I was quite confident from yesterday because even though there were quite a lot of fights yesterday the car felt great and we knew that we had a good race pace. We were a little bit more sceptical about qualifying but P4 was. It was good. I mean, we were in that fall of P1. And then after that start, when I got out of Turn 1 into first, I knew that it was all about trying to use the pace of the car that we had yesterday and trying to take care of those tyres. : I mean, I knew that Max and Lando would be very aggressive towards each other.
“I mean, they are fighting for the championship. I got a good start. I saw that Max was going towards the inside as well as Lando and I was like, ‘I’m just going to prepare the exit of the corner’, which was obviously a winning bet. And from that moment onwards, then I could focus on my own race. And the car felt great. So from that moment onwards, it was a bit of a lonely race, but it’s a good kind of lonely. And I hope we can reproduce that in the future.”
Sainz: “First of all, congrats to the whole team. Congrats to Charles for a great win. And yeah, I think everyone needs to be very happy and very proud of this weekend and yeah, of how we’ve recovered from a tricky middle part of the season to suddenly put ourselves in a position to dominate the race like we did today and to be clearly the fastest car on track come race day. I’m very happy to see this and I hope it repeats itself from here until the end of the year because it would be really nice to get another win before the end of the season. Looking at the race, it wasn’t the easiest of starts. First, well, getting a bit blocked with the Max and Lando going at it for the championship into Turn 1. Then I was attacking Max, in his DRS, trying to put as much pressure as possible. And then for a lap, I had some sort of issue that meant that I had very little power at the exit of the corners.
“That made me lose a couple of seconds, and most importantly, the DRS with Max. And then you are in that 1.5, two-second, three-second gap, that is the worst for tyres and car balance, which meant I just had to settle until the pit stop windows. And then, yeah, we managed to get the undercut. Yeah, we boxed really early for that Hard tyre, but from then on, I felt really comfortable, very confident, and we were very quick again. So, yeah, a bit gutted that we were so quick all weekend and we obviously didn’t end up getting the win, but at the same time, Charles did a great job and a great start to put himself in the position to win it.”
Vasseur: “It was not the plan and to start third and fourth! I would have preferred to start one and two. But it is like it is. I think Carlos was in a very good lap before the yellow flag or the red flag in quali, and I could have done the pole. I think it was true also between Friday and Saturday, that we had a better pace on the race pace and the long stint than on the quali. It’s not a drama in Austin, because you have occasions to overtake, and it’s one of the tracks if you start third and fourth, then you have a good pace, you can still win the race. It’s not always true, and I’m not sure that it would be true on every single track until the end. I think that sometimes we will have to do another choice, and but I think this weekend was the good one.
“Regarding soft tyre pace, I’m not whether it’s related to the compound. I think it’s more of the pace on one lap, but it’s also a choice in terms of a setup. Austin is also a strange one, because you have the first part very high-speed, bumpy, and the last part more load, low-speed, smooth, and you have to decide where you want to be competitive. And the same for the race. I think the other teams went a little bit in our direction between Saturday and Sunday, but we kept the advantage, and at least on the tyre deg, it’s big advantage to be in a good shape on the last part.”
If he could win –
Sainz: “Not really. If I’m honest with you, as soon as I saw Charles in P1, then I saw that Max couldn’t keep up with Charles. So probably by the time… I knew that if I couldn’t pass Max in the first three laps, it was going to be game over because then Charles and I were always very close in pace. Maybe there’s one race or two where he’s one or two tenths quicker in race day, another race where I’m maybe a bit quicker. But yeah, it just means that track position around any Formula 1 track is key.
“And after that start, and especially having a car in between us and not being able to pass Max within the first five laps, I knew it was going to be very, very tough. Then, honestly, with a Hard tyre, yes, I caught back some time, but I was just more pushing to see my pace and to see how good I was feeling this weekend because I was enjoying a lot driving the car this weekend and I knew I was quick.”
Strategy, work of the team –
Leclerc: “Yeah, we adjusted it. However, at one point, like at lap 15 or 16, we had quite a good gap. So we had the freedom to basically copy whatever Max was doing a lap later, because it’s not like he could undercut us. So when you are in this situation, it’s quite a lot less stressful because you’ve just got to copy what the driver behind you does and we had the gap to do so. So then it was more about mirroring what everybody was doing behind more than actually come up with a different strategy at that time. And I mean, he’s [Ravin] incredible. I have really a lot of trust in Ravin.
“He’s done an excellent job. He’s pretty young, too, for a position like that. But he’s always super, super calm. And that’s really needed. And yeah, he also manages the emotion super well, which maybe in the past was probably one of our weaknesses, speaking of strategy. This has changed a lot with Ravin. And again, he’s doing a really, really good job. So I think, yeah, we have a very strong track team at the moment.”
Sainz: “I think full credit for Ravin and all the strategy team for the progress that’s been made in Ferrari over the last couple of years. I think it’s been important to see progress in that side. And there’s been a lot of work being done behind the scenes. And obviously, Ravin has played a fundamental role in that work. Like I’ve said many times, having a good car on race day always helps to make the strategy work. And I feel like this year, compared to last year, we have a very strong car on race day. The best example is today. A car that allows you to be the first one to box and still extend the Hard tyre and still be quick on the Hard tyre and not and not be because of being the first one to box, then degrading more than the others.
“That is something that I’ve struggled in the past, especially last year, a lot with that. And yeah, Singapore, I remember boxing in lap 14 of a 70-lap race or a 60-lap race and still making it to the end. With any other car or with any other year that we’ve had, were degradation and the car was weaker in the race, this wouldn’t be possible. So making bold strategy moves on race day wouldn’t be as easy and you would look more crazy by doing them. And this year, having a car that degrades less the tyres and makes you more competitive on race day also allows you more flexibility and better opportunities to play with the strategy.”
Vasseur: “For sure we did a step forward after Monza, with Monza, Baku, Singapore. But they are not conventional tracks, and it was probably a bit more important to be performant on this weekend, and we did a good job. It went well, mainly on the race pace, but in quali we struggled a little bit Friday and Saturday. But I’m very pleased with the result of the weekend, because at the end of the day, the car was okay, but we did also a very good job from the beginning to the end. Very well executed on the strategy, the pit stop, the start. Everything went well, and it’s a good weekend.”
Constructors’ fight –
Leclerc: “I mean, we’ve got to target winning the Constructors’ title. It’s an optimistic goal, but that’s what we are here for. So, yeah, we’ll do the math at the end of the season. Until then, I think the best thing we can do is to focus on ourselves, on our own performance, just like we did this weekend. It’s been a really good weekend for the team and for the Constructors’ title. And we’ll try and reproduce that as often as possible. And hopefully at the end of the year, when we do the math, we will have won the Constructors’ title.”
Sainz: “Yeah, if I would have to bet, I would say Mexico and Vegas are good tracks based on last year. I’m basing myself a bit on last year. This year everything seems a bit different. But yeah, and then I think Qatar is going to be a bit our bogey track, if I would have to bet again my money and then Abu Dhabi I’m not sure. I’m not sure what we can achieve in Abu Dhabi, but let’s see. I just hope this pace shows itself again before the end of the season and gives me another chance of going at it.”
Vasseur: “I am focused on the party of tonight. And then from Monday, we will be focused on Mexico, I think it is the right approach.”
Drivers’ scene –
Leclerc: “I mean, never say never. Let’s say that for the Constrictors, if we do everything perfect until the end of the season, no matter what McLaren does, if we do better than them, I think we can still clinch that title. With the drivers, I see it a bit in a different way. Even if we do everything perfect, I feel like it will require a little bit of luck inside that to try and get that title, and we cannot really rely on luck. So the Drivers’ seems to be quite unlikely, but again, I’ll believe in it until it’s mathematically impossible. But trickier.
Sprint fight –
Vasseur: “Don’t be negative, it was all right. I think from the simulation, we got lot of performance and I had to trust them to do the job and in the sprint they did the job.”
Here’s Charles Leclerc taking lead: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2024-united-states-grand-prix-leclerc-snatches-the-lead-at-turn-1-as-norris-drops-to-p4-on-the-race-start.1813461306224496252
Here’s Charles Leclerc after his win: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2024-united-states-grand-prix-leclerc-crosses-the-line-to-take-his-third-victory-of-the-season.1813468196823306083
Here’s Max Verstappen, Lando Norris on losing lead
Here’s how F1 US GP panned out
Here’s how F1 US GP sprint panned out
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