The team principal promotes strategy and points: “McLaren? We’re close.” Leclerc: “The overtaking on Russell went well.” Sainz: “The race pace is good”
Charles Leclerc’s fourth place and Carlos Sainz’s sixth may be enough for now. This is the message from Frederic Vasseur: “We cannot be fully satisfied but it was difficult to do better today” says the Ferrari sporting director at the end of the Japanese F1 GP. Leclerc returned ahead of his teammate: “It was important to overtake Russell at that moment in the race. Lewis (Hamilton, ed.) was going fast and was pushing hard, I knew they would play as a team and I couldn’t waste time. I had to taking a risk and it was a good overtaking” he declared to Sky Sport. And on the McLaren that finished in front: “McLaren’s step forward is both worrying: at Silverstone they were strong on a track similar to this one. We know that they are very strong on this type of circuit, let’s see now in Qatar if they confirm that, and in that case would become worrying, but for now I’m not worried.”
And Sainz explains how fifth place eluded him: “I had a good race pace, I could have finished behind Charles (Leclerc, ed.) but Mercedes did something legal with the DRS and so that’s fine. I’m still satisfied with my race “.
calmly
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For Vasseur there are several positive sides: “The strategy was adequate today and the points were positive but the objective is to bring Mercedes closer. Has Leclerc found his feeling with the car again? He has never been lacking and he hadn’t lost it before. We’re saving by hundredths of a second. It will be a hard-fought battle with Mercedes and McLaren, we need to stay calm, without being either optimistic or pessimistic.”
strategies
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On the fact that McLaren finished in front, he adds: “Does McLaren seem to have something more? We are so close that from one track to another each team can have an advantage. Today we scored the points we could have, now let’s look ahead to next race. We always follow the performance, this weekend with a few cents less we could have gone to the front row and it would have been another race. We need to grow step by step and see. In Qatar in two weeks the goal is to start after you”.
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