Vasseur Laments Missed Podium at Monza: Ferrari Close, But Not Enough

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur expressed his disappointment at not being able to offer a podium to the team’s fans at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday. Despite showing a promising pace in practice at Monza, Charles Leclerc qualified and finished in fourth position on Italian soil. Lewis Hamilton, for his part, recovered from tenth place to secure sixth place. Leclerc crossed the finish line four seconds behind Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, who took third place, but 25 seconds behind the race winner, Max Verstappen.

“I think today is a shame and I am disappointed not to be able to bring a podium to the Tifosi, because when you see the fans on the starting and finishing line and the podium, it would have been magical and they deserve it,” commented Vasseur.

Fred Vasseur

Vasseur highlighted that the margins were tight throughout the weekend, not just in the practices.

“From the first lap to the last, he was there, flying and was much faster than us. But overall, I think that compared to Mercedes and McLaren, we did our job. It’s not enough, but we did our job,” he added. Vasseur also pointed out the closeness with McLaren. “I think we’re a tenth off the front row [of the grid] yesterday. Even if you play differently with engine modes, fuel and so on [in practice], we’re talking about 3-4 kilos of fuel, we never know this. But it’s also true that even in the race it’s the smallest gap with McLaren, it was also the smallest gap in FP3, the smallest gap in qualifying, in FP1, and I think we’re in better shape this weekend. It’s not enough because they’re ahead of us, but I think we at least shortened the gap this weekend,” he concluded.