Ferrari boss Vasseur: “Hamilton/Leclerc? They didn’t want to reveal it over the radio”

Following the spectacular Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, the Tifosi are left somewhat baffled: how could Ferrari have set the fastest lap times at times, yet in the end not even secure a podium finish, let alone a win? How is that possible?

To start with: the Zandvoort circuit layout should actually suit the Ferrari racing car, but the bottom line is that Hamilton finished 4th and Leclerc 5th.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur says: “First of all, I think the pace was good in both cars, and we could have achieved a better result in the race. If we were lacking anything, it was more in yesterday’s qualifying than in today’s race.”

“Admittedly, our execution wasn’t perfect: we had a poor start with Charles, lost a position to Piastri even though we were on the soft tyres, then we also had a poor pit stop with Charles, and there was a misunderstanding with Lewis.”

A misunderstanding? How so? Vasseur continued: “We actually assumed that the tyres on Lewis’s car would last to see him through to the end. We wanted to pursue this strategy because Antonelli was struggling with tyre wear. Lewis could have held out until the end, and we didn’t ask Charles to let Hamilton past because Leclerc had to come into the pits anyway.”

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The Frenchman admits: “We probably could have done better, but it was also difficult to explain the situation to Lewis over the radio without revealing our plan to our rivals, and that’s what led us to this decision.”

“But ultimately, I don’t think we lost out because of that decision. We probably made more mistakes in qualifying yesterday, because today’s pace was just as good as yesterday’s in the sprint. Even if finishing sixth at the end of the first lap means you’re too far off the front.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming home race at Monza, team principal Vasseur said: “Today we had the pace to do better, indeed probably even to win the race, but it was more a question of execution that ultimately prevented us from doing better – and that means we’ll have to do a perfect job at Monza if we want to achieve a positive result.”

“After all, we saw that in Sprint Qualifying, four cars were separated by just a few hundredths, but when you start the Grand Prix in fifth and sixth place, as we did here at Zandvoort, the situation is already compromised.”