Vasseur expects the four-team battle to continue at Mexico City

On the back of Ferrari’s first double victory for the first time in 18 years at the United States Grand Prix, the Scuderia’s team boss Fred Vasseur expects that the four leading outfits – McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari – will be once again separated by the tiniest of margins.

Ferrari locked out the second row on the grid for the United States Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc setting the third and fourth-quickest lap in Saturday’s qualifying session.

When the lights went green, both Ferraris had a great start from the second row, but Leclerc had the track position on the inside when the leading duo of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen ran wide. Although an early safety car meant that Leclerc had to defend hard from Verstappen at the restart, he was faultless as he disappeared up the track to take his third win of the year.

His team-mate Carlos Sainz complained about technical issues in the early stages of the race, but Ferrari managed to cure the problem with a tweak to the setting. The Spaniard managed to undercut Verstappen in the pit stops, and then was also able to pull away for to Ferrari’s second 1-2 of the season.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur insists that he expects the close fight between the four leading outfits to continue at the Hermanos Rodriguez track despite the unique set of challenges.

“We come to Mexico on a high after the one-two in Austin, which was a great motivational boost for the entire team. The Hermanos Rodriguez circuit presents a completely different challenge.

“The fact that Mexico City sits at 2200 metres above sea level requires a completely unique approach when it comes to setting up the car. The rarified air also places additional stress on components of the car that need to disperse heat, meaning the systems, brakes, power unit and of course the tyres too.

“Finding the right balance to deal with this while getting the maximum performance out of the car is not an easy task, but we have prepared well for it back in the factory.

“Our approach to this race will be the same as any other, focussing on ourselves and paying attention to the details. As usual, I expect it to all be very close between the top teams and come the end of the weekend, we will see where we stand,” concluded the Frenchman.