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Vasseur predicts ‘a huge fight’ for the 2024 constructors’ title after ‘emotional’ Monza win for Ferrari
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Fred Vasseur has given an insight into the emotions on the pit wall during the final laps of the Italian Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc headed towards a potential victory, with the Ferrari Team Principal admitting that it was “not always easy” to remain focused.
Having taken P2 from Lando Norris during the opening lap of the race, Leclerc was undercut by the McLaren during the first round of pit stops, leaving the Monegasque to initially question the strategy choice.
However, when Norris and team mate Oscar Piastri both pitted for a second time later on, Ferrari opted to keep Leclerc on a one-stop plan, enabling the 26-year-old to stay out on track in the lead.
From there Leclerc had to manage his tyres and avoid being caught by Piastri, a scenario that Vasseur acknowledged was quite tense for the team.
Asked about his emotions during those final laps, Vasseur said with a laugh: “I [was] still trying to avoid this! We [were] doing the calculation on what we could give up to Piastri each lap, to fix some target to Charles, and just into the last lap we [could say] ‘okay, now we are safe’, because for the last lap we had something like four seconds, and then we started to think about reliability!
“But I tried to stay focused – it’s not always easy but it’s the most important, not to think too much about the podium.”
2024 Italian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc's emotional Italian radio
The win – Leclerc’s second of the season after his long-awaited home triumph in Monaco – proved to be an emotional one, with it happening in Italy as the Tifosi watched on. Pushed on whether the victory had been a high point of his Ferrari career so far, Vasseur responded: “For sure it’s a good one.
“For Ferrari and for Charles to win in Monaco, to win in Monza – I think it’s probably, with Imola, the two or three that you want to take in the season. But, at the end of the day, you are not scoring more points in Monza than in Baku.
“Mathematically speaking it’s a win, emotionally speaking for sure it’s something very important because we have a huge support from the beginning of the week from the Tifosi, starting on Monday at the factory in Maranello.
“We had already lots of people in front of the entrance, and the best way to pay them back is to win. But it’s not easy, it’s not always under our control, but for sure for the team it was a good way to pay them back for their support.”
With eight races remaining, Ferrari are now only 39 points away from Red Bull at the head of the constructors’ standings. However, in terms of his expectations for the remainder of the campaign, Vasseur believes that the team will be part of a “huge fight” given how close the pack is.
Leclerc clinched the seventh win of his F1 career in front of Ferrari's adoring Tifosi
“I think it would be a huge mistake to try to draw any conclusions or to change the plan [after winning at Monza],” the team boss commented. “There is a very long way to go until Abu Dhabi, there is something like 450 points on the table.
“It’s so tight, the fight – honestly, I spent a couple of years on the pit wall but it’s the first time I think in F1 we have this situation where eight drivers can win the race, without an accident or crash. Four teams are able to win or be on the podium, and it’s changing from session to session.
READ MORE: 5 Winners and 5 Losers from Italy – Who left on a high following a magical Monza?
“For me the most impressive was probably Spa where you had a McLaren in FP1, Red Bull in FP2, we started from pole and Mercedes won the race, and we have the feeling that it is almost like this everywhere, except Lando dominating last weekend in Zandvoort.
“But you can expect that, I think until the end of the season, it will be like this, that it will be a huge fight, and it’s true that with eight cars with this kind of competitiveness that one team can do a one-two and also a seven-eight. I don’t want to speak about DNF, but this can make a huge difference in terms of points. Let’s be focused on Baku first. Step by step we will see.”
Despite this, Vasseur is hopeful that the Scuderia may again have good weekends at the next two events in Azerbaijan and Singapore.
“Zandvoort was a difficult one for us for different reasons, and I was convinced that the next three events would probably be a bit better,” he added.
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