The Monegasque still on the podium: “The Safety Car gave us a hand, but in the last two GPs we did a great job”. The Dutchman: “Good strategy, but it was impossible to catch Norris”
Ferrari also convinces in Mexico. He does it with Leclerc, second and protagonist of the Scuderia’s seventh podium this season, but above all he does it in the preparation of the weekend, going from the development of the car to the team’s execution on the track. The Monegasque’s podium thus brings the red car back to second place in the constructors’ standings, +1 on Mercedes and now, with four GPs to go, second place is once again a possible objective. And what a good Bearman: the young talent from the Maranello academy is fourth with Haas, achieving the best result of his career.
LECLERC SATISFIED
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Leclerc can only be satisfied, on the podium for the fiftieth time since he joined Ferrari. “I’m happy – confirms the sixteenth – I believe that McLaren was on another planet today and Red Bull was also faster than us, yet we finished ahead of Max. Maybe Virtual saved us, but I’m certainly happy with what the team was able to do in the last two races. We can’t have any regrets and we must continue like this until the end of the season”. More generally, the SF-25 in the hands of the Monegasque seemed well balanced and also effective in tire management, to the point of allowing Charles to complete the race with a single stop. “We had planned it – explains team principal Vasseur – it’s a shame we weren’t able to do the same with Lewis too”.
HAMILTON PENALTY
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And, in fact, it was a rather complicated race for Hamilton, marked by the penalty received in the initial stages of the race after the intense battle with Verstappen. The Englishman, who went wide in turn three, did not follow the stewards’ instructions when returning to the track, being punished with ten seconds to serve at the pit stop. “A really severe decision – explains Vasseur – ten seconds made us lose four or five positions. It was a truly enormous punishment for us.” Certainly among the topics of discussion in the briefing after the race there will also be the start, where the two reds risked coming into contact, wasting the opportunity to attack the leader Norris: “It was impossible to discuss all the situations in advance – explains Vasseur – Charles certainly didn’t make his best start and therefore had to fall in behind Lando. In general I think that both our drivers played their game”. “I certainly didn’t have any space – replies Leclerc – I think Lewis didn’t know that Verstappen was next to us and Max probably didn’t know that we were there either. I just extended my braking to stay out of trouble. Then I cut the corner and gave the position back to Norris”.
VERSTAPPEN COMEBACK
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Max Verstappen also commented on the chaos of turn one, author of a high-risk start, finishing wide in turn one and then very skilled in managing an out-of-control Red Bull on the grass of the escape route. “There was certainly a lot of action – explained the Dutchman – I was wide and I braked late, so I found myself on the grass”. After an uncompetitive first stint, the world champion then moved up the rankings thanks to the soft tyre, threatening Leclerc’s second position: “Our strategy was really good – explained Verstappen – probably the problem was the first stint, when we had no grip. Then, having switched to the soft tyres, the situation improved a lot. From there everything went rather well. In the end I think we were quite fast, but still not enough to beat McLaren.”
SUPER BEARMAN
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Fourth, behind the Dutchman is a fantastic Bearman. “I’m really enthusiastic – says the Englishman beaming – they even voted me as driver of the day. At the end there was even a McLaren behind me, yet I managed to stay in front. It’s an incredible result for the team. I confess that at the second stop I was rather doubtful, I didn’t know that the others had also stopped, but we did very well”. “He did an exceptional job – adds Vasseur, who carefully follows the young talent from the Cavallino academy – he hasn’t made a single mistake since the beginning of the weekend, perfect from the beginning to the end”. “Ollie continues to amaze me, I have no more words for him”, commented dad Bearman, irrepressible in the garage.
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