Vasseur: Ferrari ‘disappointed’ to miss Monza podium for Tifosi
Ferrari misses podium at the Italian Grand Prix
Ferrari left its home race at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza without a podium on Sunday, prompting team principal Fred Vasseur to express frustration at missing a rostrum finish for the Tifosi despite a competitive weekend and improved race pace at the Temple of Speed.
Leclerc’s performance at Monza
Charles Leclerc qualified fourth and finished there, ending the Italian Grand Prix four seconds behind Oscar Piastri’s McLaren in third and 25 seconds adrift of race winner Max Verstappen. In a notable recovery drive, Lewis Hamilton climbed from 10th on the grid to sixth after serving a five-place grid penalty, adding context to the top-10 battle at Monza.
Fred Vasseur reflects on the result
"I think today that first it's a shame and I'm disappointed to not be able to bring a podium to the Tifosi, because when you see [the fans on] the start and finish line and the podium, it would have been magic and they deserve it," Vasseur said.
"But I think we are close to the McLaren today. It's probably the smallest gap of the season. I think that Max was outstanding.
"From the first lap to the last lap, he was there, he was flying and he was much faster than us. But overall, I think compared to Mercedes and to McLaren, we did our job. It's not enough, but we did our job."
Ferrari’s progress at Monza
Ferrari had hinted at strong pace through practice at Monza, and Vasseur stressed that the margins remained tight across the weekend, not just on Friday, underlining Ferrari’s incremental progress versus McLaren and Mercedes in this Italian GP weekend analysis.
"I think we are one tenth off the first row [of the grid] yesterday," he said. "Even if you play differently with the engine modes, the fuel and so [in practice], we are speaking about 3-4 kilos of fuel, this we never know."
"But it's true also that even in the race it's the smallest gap with McLaren, it was also the smallest gap in FP3, the smallest gap in qualifying, in FP1, and I think we are in better shape this weekend. It's not enough because they are in front of us, but I think at least we closed the gap this weekend."
Up Next
