Post-race comments from the team. Quite long but I didn't want to cut anything out since I know people like reading the full comments.
Vasseur:
On one hand, we probably would have wanted to score points with Carlos, but on the other hand, with Charles, the timing of the first pit stop wasn't optimal, even though it didn't change the final result much. We were probably expecting different weather conditions, and it was very difficult in terms of tire pressure. This was also seen with McLaren: they were much faster at the beginning of the first stint and slower at the end. We had to make choices that didn’t really work in our favor, but in terms of the championship, this weekend wasn’t a disaster, especially considering yesterday’s race. We will come back stronger in Las Vegas.
During the last restart, we were 6-7 tenths slower than Lando, whereas we were probably 6-7 tenths faster than him at the end of the stint. But it is very difficult to predict how many laps we could have done before the next rain shower. We had to take some gambles, and luck wasn’t on our side today, but the most important thing is that we understand what we are doing. After these three races, I’m happy, I think we’re the team that has scored the most points and that’s good for Ferrari. We know that in Las Vegas we’ll probably have a better pace than this weekend and that’s where we need to score a lot of points.
The constructors’ title? There will be a good fight between the top four teams, and today Alpine was also there. I want to congratulate them because they’ve had a tough season, and achieving such a result in these conditions is really crucial. The FIA question regarding water levels in the tires? I don’t understand it, and I want to stay away from all that. We need to focus on ourselves to keep developing and pushing to do the best job possible.
Leclerc:
We decided on the setup with the team, and we thought it was going in the right direction. Instead, we went in the wrong direction, that’s for sure. The pace just wasn’t there, we weren’t competitive. In qualifying, we weren’t so bad with new tires and a low fuel load.
In the race, however, it was difficult to drive, it was hard not to make mistakes. In the end, we can be happy to have finished ahead of both McLarens and to have only lost two points in the constructors’ championship. It was an excellent way to limit the damage on a weekend where we knew McLaren would be very strong. Now we have to put everything into the last three races of the season.
The strategy was clearly a mistake. In a race like this, it’s very difficult not to make errors, it’s very complex due to what happens and what can happen. If you look, only the top three didn’t make a strategic error. We, on the other hand, went in the wrong direction. We thought we would stop and then be in clean air, but the entry and exit time in the pit lane, on a wet track, was much longer, and that put me into traffic with Bearman and Hamilton. At that moment, I knew I was going to lose a lot. Then the safety car came, and we lost positions. It was very tough.
We were very strong in Las Vegas last year. I hope to be just as strong. But it is also true that this year we have made great progress in tire management. This means that in cooler track conditions, we’re missing something. We saw that today. And Las Vegas will be somewhat similar. I hope we work well over these two weeks and are ready. We know we can do well because the track characteristics suit our car, but we need to use the tires better. In my opinion, we can also do well in Abu Dhabi, but I think we’ll need to go back to damage limitation in Qatar.
Sainz:
Overtaking was very difficult today. I had 2 crashes that I honestly I cannot explain very well, very, very unpredictable. This car in the wet has been extremely difficult to drive. I apologize for this team for the 2 mistakes because, obviously, it cost us. But starting from the pit lane, it's not like we were gonna get a lot of points. So, yeah, turn the page and come back stronger. We're gonna definitely try our best [for the rest of the season], we're still in the fight for the championship, we'll see if we can finish in a high this season.
