Adam Cooper F1

Charles Leclerc admits that his Ferrari Formula 1 team was “nowhere” at a wet Interlagos on Sunday, and he took part of the responsibility for a wrong turn on setup that didn’t pay off.

Leclerc was sixth in wet qualifying on Sunday morning, and then struggled for pace throughout the race.

He was the first driver to pit for new tyres, coming in on lap 24, and that further compromised him. Helped by issues hampering others he eventually finished fifth.

Team mate Carlos Sainz had an even tricker time, crashing in qualifying, starting from the pitlane with a new PU and gearbox, and then spinning off again in the race.

“I think I’m partly to blame for it,” Leclerc said when asked by this writer about the SF-24’s poor wet weather form.

“Because obviously we decide the setups together with the team, and today I wanted to go into that direction.

“However it was the wrong one, for sure. And today, the pace was just not there. I think in qualifying, we actually weren’t too bad. With the new tyres, low fuel, you can extract more out of the car. But in the race, we were nowhere.

“And more than being nowhere, it was extremely difficult to drive, extremely difficult to not do any mistakes. And at the end, looking at all this, the only thing we could be a little bit satisfied with is being in front of the two McLarens.

“To only lose four points in the constructors’ is big damage limitation on a weekend where they seem to be so strong. Now we need to put everything together for the last few races of the season.”

Leclerc admitted that the early pit stop call, which he prompted, was the wrong choice.

“That was a mistake,” he said. “It’s easy to be said as well that on a race like this it’s very difficult to not do any mistakes in terms of strategy, because there are so many calls that you need to do.

“And if you look, I think only the top three did no mistakes on a race like this. We were on the other side of things. We stopped, I wanted free air, so I asked the team to find free air. They boxed me that lap.

“But unfortunately, the pit entry and the pit exit time in the wet was a lot longer than what we thought.

“And I ended up in the middle of traffic with Ollie [Bearman] and Lewis [Hamilton], and from that moment, I knew that we were losing so much. Then there was a safety car. We lost like three or four positions there. So then it was a lot more difficult.”

Regarding the new track surface he said: “I think it made it very difficult. I think honestly, the tarmac this weekend wasn’t a step forward.”

Pierre Gasly said the later stages of the Sao Paulo GP “felt like an eternity” as he successfully fended off the challenge of George Russell on his way to third place.

Gasly started only 13^th after getting caught by the same red flag as Max Verstappen in Q2. Up to ninth on the first lap, he then lost a spot to the charging Verstappen. He gained a few more positions before the VSC led to several drivers pitting for fresh intermediates.

Like team mate Esteban Ocon and Verstappen he didn’t pit, and moved up to third before a red flag gave him a free tyre change.

He remained third through the second half of the race despite pressure from Russell, crossing the line just three seconds behind Ocon.

“He was quite big in the mirrors,” said Gasly of the Mercedes driver. “I must say it wasn’t easy. It was difficult conditions. I wasn’t at ease with the car balance. So I was kind of like fighting it a bit. But I always had him at bay.

“I don’t think he ever had the idea of trying anything. So I knew as long as I keep him within one second, it’ll be good enough. He damaged a bit his tyres. So it was a long end of the race, but we managed to hold him off.

“There was Lando [Norris] at the restart and Charles [Leclerc] as well. So we’ve had our fair battles during the entire race, which felt like an eternity, to be fair, with the red flag and in these conditions.

“But we managed to make the right calls, faultless drive and strategy and excellent day for the team.”

Gasly made it clear that it hasn’t been an easy season for the Enstone camp.

“It’s been very difficult for everyone at times,” he said. “You’ve got to come every single weekend with the same mindset, the same approach, trying to put your best, even though you know that your chances are not really high.

“But it’s important to never give up because, you know, especially on days like today, anything’s possible.

“And I’m very grateful for all the work the team has been doing, because it all makes it worth it on a day like today when we get both cars on the podium.

“I don’t think anyone in the world today would have thought at some point this year, two Alpines are going to be on the podium.”

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has praised Max Verstappen’s “mental resilience” after he bounced back from a difficult qualifying session to win the Sao Paulo GP.

Verstappen was caught out by a red flag in Q2 and left stranded in 12^th, which became 17^th after his PU change penalty was added.

In TV interviews after the session he expressed his frustration at the timing of the red flag, which allowed drivers ahead of the incident to set lap times.

However he put that behind him and put in a storming drive through the field to win the race, and give himself a chance of clinching the title in Las Vegas.

“Today was an emotional roller coaster,” said Horner. “We knew we had a good car. Yesterday, the car was quick, and to finish third then lose it with a VSC, but to be able to follow that closely around here in the sprint race, we knew we that we’d got good pace.

“Quickest in I think Q1, and Q2 obviously, the way things played out, we were just very unlucky.

“And so then having elected to take the five-place penalty as well with the engine, you’re on the penultimate row of the grid, P17.

“So very quickly you have to brush yourself down and focus on the race ahead. Max’s mental strength and attitude to deal with that is outstanding.”

Horner suggested that he didn’t have to give Verstappen a pep talk after his frustrating qualifying session.

“You know when to put an arm around him, but he’s not that kind of driver,” he said when asked by this writer if the Dutchman had needed any support. “He works it out for himself. His mental resilience is huge, and that’s part of the strength that he has.

“But you can see how much it meant to him. I don’t think I’ve seen him that animated on a podium for, I can’t remember the last time, so it meant a huge amount to him. And I really believe that we’ve witnessed one of the great drives in F1 today.”

Horner compared Verstappen’s early progress with that of Ayrton Senna at the 1993 European GP.

“I thought his start today was electric,” he said. “And that first lap was up there with Donington ’93, around the outside of Turn 3. I think he passed six cars on the on the first lap.

“He was the only car that was really making progress, being able to pick cars off, and so late on the brakes into Turn 1, whether it was with Lewis, with Oscar Piastri. And then obviously at the restart with Esteban.

“And then he just controlled the race and pulled away with ease, at some times a second a lap. So on a pretty dreary day, he shone pretty brightly today.”

He added: “I think the best response is to do your talking on the track, and that’s what he’s done today. And an attacking drive, to go from 17th to first, I think, is one of the best drives of his career. And on a day where conditions are difficult, obviously you see the differences in the drivers.

“There have been a lot of comments that have been made, and opinions that have been voiced against Max and the way he drives. And I think the best way to answer those critics is to drive, produce the drive that he did today.

“And we’ve watched a lead that has been diminishing since before the summer break, and having not won since June, it was great to hear the Rolling Stones playing again in the garage in memory of Dietrich Mateschitz that we play every time we win a Grand Prix.”

Lando Norris insists that he has no regrets about pitting for tyres under the VSC in the Sao Paulo GP before a red flag gave rivals a free tyre change.

However the McLaren driver called the regulation that allows such changes “a silly rule that no one agrees with.”

While running in second place Norris followed leader George Russell into the pits just as the VSC was ending, but Esteban Ocon, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly all stayed out.

A red flag then allowed all three to get fresh intermediates under the stoppage without penalty.

Having passed Russell before the red flag Norris was thus in fourth place for the restart, only to drop behind the Mercedes driver when he ran wide.

At a later restart he had a second off, and eventually finished in sixth place after a hectic afternoon.

“You can change your tyres under the red flag, it’s what the others did,” he said. “So just unlucky, unfortunate. Sometimes it just goes your way. So nothing we did wrong.

“I don’t care what people say. Staying out was not the right thing to do. It shouldn’t been red-flagged, but obviously there was the crash in the end, which caused the red. That’s life sometimes. You take a gamble, and it’s paid off for them. It’s not talent, it’s just luck.”

He added: “It was the right time to box. So no regrets. Just unlucky.”

Asked by this writer about the stop Norris said that all F1 drivers dislike the rule that allows a free tyre change.

“It’s a silly rule that no one agrees with, but you’ll always agree with it when it benefits you. So every driver said that they don’t agree with it, and they wanted it changed.

“So it’s just unfortunate, but it’s the rule. You win some you lose some. It benefited them today. So, well done to them.”

Norris’s day was made worse when he ran wide at a safety car restart and lost out to Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, although he soon moved back ahead of the Australian.

“I still made a couple of mistakes in the end,” he said. “I had cars on my left, on my right. I locked the rears, I went off. I lost two positions. So a little bit unfortunate there.

“My own fault. So not a perfect race for me. But I think no matter what, fourth was the best anyone could do today, of the people who boxed and didn’t get lucky.”

It was a rollercoaster day for Norris, one that included a qualifying session that saw him on the bubble for elimination in Q1 before taking pole.

“It’s been an up and down weekend, for sure,” he said. “Not a lot more I could do. I’m sure George probably feels like he won the race today, he deserved it more than anyone else. I probably finished third realistically, so it’s tough.

“Max probably would have come through anyway, and probably beaten us. Just unlucky for us, nothing more than that. I made a couple of mistakes, which I own up to, and it cost me a couple of positions in the end.”

Max Verstappen says that on Sunday at Interlagos his emotions went from “almost trying to destroy the garage to winning the race” after he recovered from a major setback in the early morning qualifying session.

The win was his first since in a full length race since Barcelona in June, and enabled him to build a cushion on Lando Norris, who started from pole but finished only sixth.

Verstappen qualified 12^th after getting caught by a red flag in Q2, after which he made his frustration clear. He then dropped to 17^th on the grid due to a five-place PU change penalty.

He was up to 11^th by the end of lap 1 and had risen to fifth when a VSC emerged on lap 27.

While many drivers took the opportunity to pit for fresh inters Esteban Ocon and Verstappen opted not to and moved into first and second immediately before a red flag gave them a free tyre change.

Soon after the resumption Verstappen moved past Ocon into the lead and he set a series of fastest laps as he pulled away to a comfortable win, giving his title campaign a massive boost.

“I don’t even know where to start, because my emotions today have been from almost trying to destroy the garage to winning the race,” said Verstappen.

“I mean, starting P17… I knew that we could have a good race, but in qualifying, I think it was quite clear that there was only one line that you could take. So I knew that overtaking was going to be quite tough.

“But yeah, in the race, we had a good start. That helped already. We had a good first lap. From there, we just picked off a few drivers here and there. Then I got a little bit stuck behind the train of Yuki, I think. Then we just stayed calm. It was still a very long race, naturally.”

Verstappen stressed that the team got his strategy just right: “We made the right calls. When some pitted, the rain was coming, we stayed out. Which was very sketchy.

“And then I saw Esteban in front of me flying, like four seconds a lap faster and I was like, ‘I’m just happy to keep the car on the track.’

“At one point it was just red, like we needed a red flag. It was just undriveable, even on extreme tyres, it would have not been possible because of the banking of the track here, it’s filling up very quickly and it almost felt like I was driving a boat.”

Verstappen admitted he had no specific expectations heading into the race.

“I was just very motivated to get a good race and just let the race pan out and see what happens,” he said. “Because in a wet race, always some crazy things can happen.

“But soon I was passing a few cars, and I had always one lap or two laps of free air. I was always the fastest on the track.

“So, I knew that, ‘OK, we are quick.’ I just need to try and pass the guys to try and have a run to the front. I felt comfortable in the car. I feel comfortable in the wet anyway, but then when the car is also performing, it just doubles up and you can really pick up the pace.”

Verstappen insisted that he only realised that he could win the race when he passed Ocon.

“When I got past Esteban in Turn 1. I mean, before that, the pace was there, I was just trying to build it up slowly. Because after the red flag, the restart was very fast. And then just when the safety car actually came out, I was starting to catch him a bit. But then the tyres were, again, very cold. And then in the restart, I got by.

“And from there onwards, I just tried to look after the tyres, because you never know what was going to happen to the end.

“The wear is always very high around here. But yeah, I felt good. The car was having a nice balance. I just had to be concentrated to not make any mistakes, because the surface was still slippery.”

Regarding the championship fight he said: “Of course looking at it it was incredibly important because in a way I was expecting to lose points today.

“So from now, I just want clean races to the end. I’m not thinking about clinching the championship in Vegas or whatever. I just want clean races.”