Adam Cooper F1

Ferrari enjoyed a perfect Sunday in Austin

Ferrari Formula 1 boss Fred Vasseur says that the US GP was “very well executed” by the Maranello team after Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz moved up from the second row to finish one-two.

From fourth on the grid Leclerc jumped into the lead at the start, while Sainz went from third to second on strategy.

The team showed good race pace throughout the weekend having found an optimum set-up that was kind to the tyres of the SF-24.

The result showed that earlier upgrades are now working well across a range of circuits.

“For sure we did a step forward after Monza, with Monza, Baku, Singapore,” said Vasseur. “But they are not conventional tracks, and it was probably a bit more important to be performant on this weekend, and we did a good job.

“It went well, mainly on the race pace, but in quali we struggled a little bit Friday and Saturday. But I’m very pleased with the result of the weekend, because at the end of the day, the car was okay, but we did also a very good job from the beginning to the end.

“Very well executed on the strategy, the pit stop, the start. Everything went well, and it’s a good weekend.”

Asked by this writer how satisfying it was to have such a perfect race and win from the second row he said: “It was not the plan and to start third and fourth! I would have preferred to start one and two.

“But it is like it is. I think Carlos was in a very good lap before the yellow flag or the red flag in quali, and I could have done the pole, but I think

“It was true also between Friday and Saturday, that we had a better pace on the race pace and the long stint than on the quali. It’s not a drama in Austin, because you have occasions to overtake, and it’s one of the tracks if you start third and fourth, then you have a good pace, you can still win the race.

“It’s not always true, and I’m not sure that it would be true on every single track until the end. I think that sometimes we will have to do another choice, and but I think this weekend was the good one.”

While Vasseur acknowledged that the team was missing qualifying pace in Austin, he indicated it wasn’t due to a specific weakness on the soft tyre relative to rivals.

“I’m not whether it’s related to the compound,” he said. “I think it’s more of the pace on one lap, but it’s also a choice in terms of a setup.

“Austin is also a strange one, because you have the first part very high-speed, bumpy, and the last part more load, low-speed, smooth, and you have to decide where you want to be competitive. And the same for the race.

“I think the other teams went a little bit in our direction between Saturday and Sunday, but we kept the advantage, and at least on the tyre deg, it’s big advantage to be in a good shape on the last part.”

Ferrari came to Austin with a stable package in terms of aero parts declared to the FIA, although Vasseur hinted that there were changes under the skin of the SF-24.

“You have to do it step-by-step,” he said. “And honestly, when you speak about upgrades, it’s what we are declaring, and that means that it’s aero, but performance is not only the external shape of the car. And everybody’s pushing, and we are pushing.

“I think honestly now we are the point of the development that when a team is bringing something, we are speaking about tenths of seconds, not more, and you have much more into the setup and so and sometimes.

“And it’s true, I think, from the beginning of the season, when the team is bringing something, it’s perhaps sometimes a step forward in terms of pure performance, but it’s also creating a bit of mess into the setup. And it’s not always a step forward in terms of results.”

McLaren didn’t ask Norris to give back the place

McLaren Formula 1 boss Andrea Stella says that his team thought that the FIA’s investigation of the Lando Norris/Max Verstappen incident in the closing stages of the US GP would lead to a penalty for the Red Bull driver.

The team didn’t ask Norris to give back the third position, but it did tell the following Oscar Piastri to be aware that Verstappen up ahead might be getting a time penalty for forcing the Englishman wide.

McLaren also opted not to pit Piastri in order to grab the extra fastest lap point that was then held by Franco Colapinto, so that he remained in touch with Verstappen.

However instead of Verstappen being punished the five-second penalty was handed to Norris, dropping him back to fourth in the final standings.

Stella was adamant that Verstappen should have been deemed at fault, if anyone.

“I think the defending car goes just straight at the apex,” he said. “We checked the video multiple times. It’s just going straight. It’s just going off-track, as much as Lando is doing, just giving no chance for Lando to complete the manoeuvre.

“If I were a journalist, I would have done a bit of statistics – how many times Max has used this way for defending? Both cars go off track. So I think both cars are gaining an advantage, if there’s an advantage gained.

“So for us, this manoeuvre was at the least neutral, but when I saw that there was an under investigation, I was pretty sure that was because Max pushed Lando off the track.

“And in fact, we told immediately Oscar, make sure you close five seconds on Max, because there could be a position at stake. So the interpretation of this situation between McLaren and the stewards is polar opposite.”

Like Norris himself Stella questioned the urgency to decide on a penalty. Without talking to the drivers, given the high stakes.

“I am surprised that the stewards didn’t even feel the need to discuss with the drivers after the race, it is an uncertain situation, get the opinion of the drivers, get the time to assess the situation with the level of details that is required when the situation is not so clear.

“So where is the urgency to interfere with the result of a race with a championship cause, just because you have to make the decision in 60 seconds? It’s a question mark that I think the stewards should take constructively, positively. Is it really needed to make a decision so quickly, and in our opinion, so wrongly?

“It’s just the fact that you defend by going off-track. This cannot be permissible.”

Regarding the decision not to give the place back he added: “Under my responsibility, but there was complete agreement by all the people involved in this interpretation, this situation did not need to be investigated.

“And once we saw and if anything, we thought the investigation should be for Max pushing Lando off the track. And that’s what we thought was going to happen when we saw that the case was under investigation. So for us, there was no need to give back the position because of the situation.”

Stella admitted that the team was also frustrated by the first corner, where Verstappen ran Norris wide, and the McLaren driver tumbled to fourth behind the Ferraris.

“We were a little upset by the manoeuvre in corner one, because not only Max gained the position, but it cost the complete exit for Lando, and therefore losing the positions on both Ferraris.

“At the same time, we sort of understood that the stewards might have applied the first lap mitigating circumstances, and we accepted it, because we always have respect for the difficulties that the stewards operate under, but they should have respect for their job as well.

“And when the case is so difficult, like Lando and Max, just take the time, review it after the race, hear from the drivers, try to understand the subtleties. So I think the first lap, first corner can be mitigated by the first lap interpretation. But I think this one for me is really difficult to understand, more than the one in the first lap.”

Stella countered the suggestion that Norris could be more aggressive in his encounters with Verstappen.

“I would not say that Lando is to be more aggressive,” he said. “I think anytime you have this kind of duel on track, you learn a little bit. But I don’t think Lando should change the fundamental way he goes on this kind of overtaking or defending manoeuvres.

“There’s some technicalities that possibly can be reviewed. But I think in this case, if it was in this lap, it could have been the next lap, Lando would have been successful in his manoeuvre.

“So I don’t think you need to change, become aggressive at the risk of not finishing the race. Obviously, Max has a lot of experience.

“We’re talking about a very, very capable driver. I’m not disrespecting this. Max is outstanding, and in this case, the message that McLaren are giving is that there was no need for the stewards to interfere with the situation or not under the urgency of deciding during the race.”

Strategy boss Ravin Jain was sent to the Austin podium

Carlos Sainz has credited Ferrari Formula 1 head of strategy Ravin Jain for playing a key role in helping the Italian team to return to winning form by making the right calls.

Jain was asked by Fred Vasseur to represent the team on the podium in Austin after Charles Leclerc led Sainz home in an impressive one-two finish.

Ferrari has made some strategy errors in past seasons, but has been much more sure-footed of late.

In Austin Sainz jumped Max Verstappen for second place after pitting earlier for hard tyres.

“I think full credit for Ravin and all the strategy team for the progress that’s been made in Ferrari over the last couple of years,” said Sainz. “I think it’s been important to see progress in that side. And there’s been a lot of work being done behind the scenes.

“And obviously, Ravin has played a fundamental role in that work. Like I’ve said many times, having a good car on race day always helps to make the strategy work. And I feel like this year, compared to last year, we have a very strong car on race day.

“The best example is today. A car that allows you to be the first one to box and still extend the hard tyre and still be quick on the hard tyre, and not because of being the first one to box then degrading more than the others. That is something that I’ve struggled in the past, especially last year, a lot with that.

“And yeah, Singapore, I remember boxing in lap 14 of a 70-lap race or a 60-lap race and still making it to the end. With any other car or with any other year that we’ve had, where degradation [was high] and the car was weaker in the race, this wouldn’t be possible.

“So making bold strategy moves on race day wouldn’t be as easy, and you would look more crazy by doing them. And this year, having a car that degrades less the tyres and makes you more competitive on race day also allows you more flexibility and better opportunities to play with the strategy.”

Sainz congratulated his team for the job it did in securing a one-two.

“I think everyone needs to be very happy and very proud of this weekend,” he said. “And of how we’ve recovered from a tricky middle part of the season to suddenly put ourselves in a position to dominate the race like we did today and to be clearly the fastest car on track come race day.

“I’m very happy to see this and I hope it repeats itself from here until the end of the year because it would be really nice to get another win before the end of the season.”

Regarding prospects for the last five races he said: “If I would have to bet, I would say Mexico and Vegas are good tracks based on last year. I’m basing myself a bit on last year.

“This year everything seems a bit different. But yeah, and then I think Qatar is going to be a bit our bogey track, if I would have to bet again my money and then Abu Dhabi I’m not sure.

“I’m not sure what we can achieve in Abu Dhabi, but let’s see. I just hope this pace shows itself again before the end of the season and gives me another chance of going at it.”

Norris admitted that he drove like “a muppet” at the start

Lando Norris has questioned what he calls a “rushed decision” by the FIA stewards that cost him third place in the US GP.

Norris was penalised five seconds for gaining an advantage by going off track while attempting to pass Max Verstappen in the closing laps.

He didn’t quite open a big enough gap to cancel out the penalty, so the positions were reversed after the flag.

Calls on such penalties are routinely made without speaking to the drivers concerned, and when a podium position is at stake and an incident happens in the late stages there is obviously an urgency to produce a quick outcome.

In this case it had a significant impact on the World Championship, creating a six-point swing in Verstappen’s favour.

“It’s a tough job to steward these kinds of things,” said Norris. “For me, whatever I did, the point that is incorrect is what Max did, which is also defend his position by going off the track, and what effectively would be keeping his position, which is not correct.

“He went off the track by defending, and he’s overdefended and made a mistake, and therefore he’s gained. The same time, because of that, I’ve had to go off the track.

“It’s impossible for people to know if I could have made it on the track or couldn’t. Therefore you cannot steward that kind of thing. But those are the rules.

“They seem to change, because I feel like it’s quite inconsistent from say, what happened in Austria, where Max didn’t get a penalty and went off the track gained an advantage. So I think there’s again inconsistency.”

Norris suggested that in such instances the views of the drivers should be heard.

“For me it’s just a rushed decision, and they don’t hear or understand our points, which they should do after the race,” he said. “They just want to make a decision at the time, so you don’t alter points and podiums and things like that.

“But therefore it’s a rushed decision, and they don’t hear my point of discussion, or my team’s point or Max’s point, which I don’t think is maybe the most correct thing. But today it was a penalty, and not a lot I can do apart from just accept that I tried.

Expanding on the theme he said: “They’re just guessing. I don’t think that’s how stewarding should be done. It’s a difficult job for them to do.

“So not complaining against them. I think it’s just more the fact they don’t see everything, understand everything as well as we do when we’re inside the car.”

Norris and Verstappen had another close moment at the start of the race, when both went wide and Charles Leclerc was able to steal the lead.

“I think both times Max went off the track, he had a lot of commitment to keep me behind,” said Norris. “Thing is, with Max, you’ve got to commit. People don’t understand that kind of thing. With Max, you can’t just go half hearted.

“Turn 1 is a bit harder to say whether it was because I didn’t commit enough, but the fact that he committed so much speed in that he again went off the track.

“I can’t just dive up the inside of someone, run off and then keep the position in normal running, but for some reason it’s completely okay on lap one in Turn 1.”

Norris stressed that both drivers in the fight are competing in a high stakes environment.

“I think Max drove very well,” he said. “I think it’s very hard to do what we’re doing, and it’s hard when you’re side-by-side, you’re completely on inside of the track, to guess what your braking marker is.

“You’re going quicker than you have before because you use the battery, the tyres are older, there’s different bumps, there’s a lot of dirt. We’re battling and we’re fighting hard.

“So I respect the battle that we had. It was a good one. It was enjoyable. I think it was respectful. I think turn one I didn’t do the correct thing. But I feel like what happened in the end of the race was more on my side.

“Otherwise, it was a good battle, and I enjoyed it. We just didn’t come out on top because I didn’t do a good enough job.

“If I defended better in turn one and wasn’t driving like a muppet, I’d have led after turn one, and we shouldn’t have this conversation in the first place.”

Regarding the impact on his championship challenge he said: “It’s a momentum killer, but we came in here with our mind open, not expecting to dominate or just win or anything. So the fact that Ferrari was so quick today showed they’re just as competitive.

“Even if I came around turn one in first I would never have finished first or second, and only could have finished third.

“But the one guy I need to beat is Max, and that’s the guy I didn’t beat today. So it was a non-successful weekend all in all, but we gave it a good shot. I tried. It wasn’t good enough, and we have work to do, and I have work to do it myself.”

Max Verstappen is adamant that Lando Norris was in the wrong when he was docked five second for gaining an advantage by overtaking off track in the closing stages of the US GP.

The pair were battling for third place when Norris made his move, and having received the penalty the McLaren driver was only able to gain 4.1 seconds on the Dutchman, and thus dropped back to fourth in the final result.

There were contrasting views about what happened, with many people sharing McLaren’s view that Norris was forced wide by Verstappen. However the World Champion was adamant that he was the innocent party.

“I think it’s quite clear,” he said. You can’t overtake outside of the white line. I mean, I got done for it also here in, I think, 2017 or whatever it was. So I lost my podium like that.

“So I just remained calm, tried to do the best I could after that to bring the car to the end, because it was not easy with the tyres and the situation that I was in. But yeah, overall, I still really enjoyed that battle that we had.”

Asked if he had any sympathy for McLaren’s suggestion that Norris was forced wide he said: “No, I don’t. I mean, they complain about a lot lately anyway, but it’s very clear in the rules. Outside the white line, you cannot pass. I’ve been done for it as well in the past.”

Verstappen and Norris had another incident at the start, when poleman Norris was forced wide by the Dutchman, and both lost out to Leclerc.

“There was a gap on the inside, so I went for it,” he said. “That corner is very wide, so it gives you a lot of opportunity of going very wide or try to go really tight. I chose for that option, and I still came out second! Started second, came out second out of Turn 1.

“This time, of course, it was Charles in front. I think it worked out quite well for me because Charles was anyway faster, so he just pulled away. From there, I just tried to do my own race.”

Verstappen made it clear that it wasn’t a straightforward race for him as he dealt with various issues.

“I think today wasn’t the best race for us compared to yesterday, for example,” he said. “Just struggling for balance, for grip. Couldn’t really brake, rotate the car. So yeah, quite quickly onwards, I realised that we’re not going to win the race. But just tried to do my own race.

“I think we did the best strategy we could as a team. And then it was just surviving to the end. And then, of course, Lando arrived. We had some really good battles, honestly. It was really a lot of fun. But yeah, overall, it was still quite a tough race for me.”

Crucially Verstappen beat Norris in both the sprint and the main race, thus extending his championship lead.

“That is definitely the positive,” he said. “I did hope for a little bit more performance today, so that’s what we have to analyse, why today we were just not that good.

“I think everyone was a little bit better or at least the same as yesterday, and it felt like we were definitely worse. So I need to understand why that was, because I don’t know at the moment.”

Leclerc won in some style in Austin after passing the title contenders

Charles Leclerc says he had a “lonely race” to victory in the Formula 1 US GP – and he hopes to reproduce that form in the future.

Leclerc qualified only fourth but he got ahead of team mate Carlos Sainz before jumping Lando Norris and Max Verstappen when the pair ran wide at the exit of the first corner as they fought each other.

Once in front Leclerc soon established a healthy lead that ensure he was never under threat, and later in the race he had Sainz riding shotgun in second.

“It feels really good as every victory feels special for its own reason,” he said. “And obviously from the start I felt really good with the car.

“I was quite confident from yesterday, because even though there were quite a lot of fights yesterday, the car felt great, and we knew that we had a good race pace.

“We were a little bit more sceptical about qualifying but P4 was good. And then after that start, when I got out of Turn 1 into first, I knew that it was all about trying to use the pace of the car that we had yesterday, and trying to take care of those tyres.

“And the car felt great. So from that moment onwards, it was a bit of a lonely race, but it’s a good kind of lonely. And I hope we can reproduce that in the future.”

Expanding on the start he said: “I knew that Max and Lando would be very aggressive towards each other. I mean, they are fighting for the championship. I got a good start.

“I saw that Max was going towards the inside as well as Lando and I was like, ‘I’m just going to prepare the exit of the corner’, which was obviously a winning bet. And from that moment onwards, then I could focus on my own race.

Leclerc admitted that it was difficult to judge the car’s form from race to race.

“I wish I could tell you exactly, but it’s always difficult because we rely on very small gaps that could make a big difference,” he said. “So it’s very difficult to predict where we will be in the next few races.

“However, we’ve said since two or three races in Monza, in Baku, in Singapore, we brought a few upgrades, and we were always waiting for Austin because it was going to be the real test for those upgrades.

“And it seems to be working all good. So that is positive for the future. It doesn’t mean that we’ll be having every Sunday the way it’s been today, but it means that we are working in the right direction, and that can only be positive. So I hope we can reproduce these kind of results more often.”

Ferrari now lies 48 points behind McLaren in the World Championship with five races left to run.

“We’ve got to target winning the constructors’ title,” said Leclerc. “It’s an optimistic goal, but that’s what we are here for. So, yeah, we’ll do the math at the end of the season. Until then, I think the best thing we can do is to focus on ourselves, on our own performance, just like we did this weekend.

“It’s been a really good weekend for the team and for the constructors’ title. And we’ll try and reproduce that as often as possible. And hopefully at the end of the year, when we do the math, we will have won the constructors’ title.”

He downplayed his own chances of winning the drivers’ championship: “I mean, never say never. Let’s say that for the constructors, if we do everything perfect until the end of the season, no matter what McLaren does, if we do better than them, I think we can still clinch that title.

“With the drivers’, I see it a bit in a different way. Even if we do everything perfect, I feel like it will require a little bit of luck inside that to try and get that title, and we cannot really rely on luck. So the drivers’ seems to be quite unlikely. But again, I’ll believe in it until it’s mathematically impossible. But trickier.”

Leclerc is upbeat about Ferrari’s prospects

Charles Leclerc believes that a “race win is possible” for Ferrari in Austin based on the team’s performance in Saturday’s sprint.

However he cautions that Red Bull and McLaren may have improved their cars with changes made before qualifying.

Carlos Sainz finished second and Leclerc fourth in the sprint, and they appeared to have the fastest cars on the track over the full distance.

In qualifying for the main event they earned third and fourth, with Sainz again ahead.

Leclerc acknowledged that Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were out of reach over one lap.

“None of us were capable of going to fight with the top two, they were too fast, but that’s also what we expected as a team,” he said.

“The first sector in qualifying yesterday and today, we knew we have a limitation in our car at the moment, and none of the setup options we thought of would cure that issue.

But in the race, we have a lot less that issue, and so that’s why I’m a bit more optimistic for tomorrow’s race.

Asked if a win was possible he said: “If we see the same race pace as today, I think it is. I think McLaren and Red Bull, most likely will do a step forward in terms of car setup for tomorrow, and we need to see how much of a step forward that is on lap times. But if we see the same race pace as this morning, for sure, the race win is possible.”

Ferrari came to Austin with an unchanged car, and Leclerc suggested that the team is learning more about the updates introduced in recent races.

“I think we did, if I assess what we see and what we feel from the beginning of the weekend,” he said.

“But tomorrow is the real test, obviously, with the whole race, but if we see a similar pace to this morning, tomorrow in the race, I think we did a step forward, for sure, because it’s normally quite a good track to look at all characteristics of a car.”

Regarding potential tyre issues in the race he said: “I think it’s quite balanced. So as a driver, you can play with either you want to have front degradation or rear degradation. So it depends a little bit how you drive. And yeah, we’ll see how everybody manages tyres.”