Ferrari left the Dutch Grand Prix of Formula 1 with Lewis Hamilton in fourth and Charles Leclerc in fifth, but identified a specific point that limited its performance in Zandvoort. For Fred Vasseur, the team’s main problem was not the pace in the race, but the speed displayed in the qualifying session.
The head of Ferrari acknowledged that the race execution also had flaws, including a slow pit stop and Leclerc’s loss of position to Oscar Piastri on the second start. With a very tightly packed peloton and little difference between the tire compounds, small decisions ended up having a significant impact on the result.
“Our race pace was decent today, but our execution wasn’t flawless,” stated Vasseur. The Frenchman noted that Ferrari even considered keeping Hamilton on track until the end, without another tire change, before the Virtual Safety Car reshaped the strategic landscape.
Hamilton finished in P4 and assessed that the team managed to bring important points home, highlighting the work carried out at the factory and the updates introduced to the car: “We know we need to do more, to ensure we are taking advantage of every opportunity to stay in the fight for the championship,” said the Briton.
Leclerc, for his part, believed that the pace could have allowed for a tighter battle with George Russell, but pointed to the Virtual Safety Car moment as not favorable. The Monegasque also stressed the need to improve performance in qualifying sessions, since he regards the starting position as one of the main factors that limited his result.
Vasseur agreed with the diagnosis of the Monegasque driver and said that Ferrari will focus its analysis on this aspect before the Italian Grand Prix: “I think what we were most lacking this weekend was qualifying pace, not race pace,” concluded the team principal, who hopes for a cleaner execution in Monza.
