Vasseur blames backmarkers for losing a second place in Mexico City

After another impressive performance from the Scuderia, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur claims that his outfit could have clinched another one-two at the Mexico City Grand Prix had backmarkers not held up Charles Leclerc in the closing stages of the 71-lap race.

Carlos Sainz displayed impressive pace to secure pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix, but he was picked off down to Turn 1, losing the first spot to reigning champion Max Verstappen.

After a safety car period brought out by RB driver Yuki Tsunoda, the Spaniard fought back against Verstappen to reclaim the lead. From there, he led all the way to the flag for his fourth career win and first in Mexico.

Reflecting on Ferrari’s weekend, Fred Vasseur insisted that the Sainz had a perfect weekend while Leclerc was hindered by backmarkers that cost the Monegasque the second place.

“We are very happy with this second win in a row. Carlos had a perfect weekend, he was on the pace from the first lap in FP1 and he drove a very clever race, losing the lead on the opening lap, before overtaking Max with a great move after which he had the race under control.

“Charles also had good pace, but he lost some time with backmarkers and that cost us P2. But, honestly, it was a good weekend for him too, even if he was not happy with the final result, which I understand completely.

“The car is not designed for Mexico, which is too much of a one-off track and that means we didn’t have any particular advantage and had to do a lot of management because of the altitude, always monitoring the temperature of the engine and the brakes to keep them at the limit, so today we can really say the team did a very good job.

Following a series of tough races in the summer, Ferrari turned up in Monza with an upgrade package that included a new floor and revised sidepods alongside the usual track-specific front and rear wing. The SF-24 displayed impressive tyre management at the Italian Grand Prix which enabled Leclerc to score his second win of the year.

That race had been followed by strong performances in Baku and Singapore before Ferrari secured a sensational one-two victory in Austin and a one-three result in Mexico City.

Vasseur continued: “Since Monza, our car has now worked well at very different types of track, so I feel we can be competitive at the remaining races also. We must continue working like this, because it’s not just down to the potential of the car but also the way the team executes the race. Now we start from scratch in Sao Paulo next week.

“We have won two races in a row, we have done a good job so we must continue to push. As for the championship, we are continuing to take it one race at a time. It’s not a given that we will be in front in Sao Paulo, what is a given is that we will tackle it with the same approach.”