Starting from fourth and fifth on the grid, Ferrari’s hopes of lifting the biggest trophy at the Italian Grand Prix were understandably low. And yet, the ‘Prancing Horse’ pulled off a dazzling heist against two incredibly quick McLarens—aided by an audacious one-stop strategy call and Charles Leclerc’s premium tyre management masterclass.
Surrounded by the Tifosi clad in the iconic ‘Rosso Corsa’ and their jubilant chants, Fred Vasseur appeared quite emotional under the podium as he celebrated his first home race victory as a Ferrari team principal. While the atmosphere never really calmed down, the Frenchman managed to talk about the crucial strategy calls and the emotions that fuelled the team in the post-race media session.
With regard to the question of when he started believing that a victory was possible, Vasseur stated that the pit wall decided not to engage in premature celebrations. Instead, they chose to focus on the data and efficient management of the race on track.
“I’m trying, I’m trying on the pit wall to avoid to think if it’s possible or not, that we are managing the gap, we are giving target lap time to the drivers, and not to think too much, is it possible or not, you know.”
The 56-year-old further commented that the race was strange to anticipate when it came to tyre strategy. Although Ferrari went into the race committed to a one-stopper, tyre degradation in their first stint on mediums turned out to be higher than expected. As such, when Lando Norris opted for a two-stopper, they weren’t initially confident about executing their preferred strategy. While they didn’t pull off an undercut, Leclerc managed to stay close to the McLarens, and after ten laps on the hard tyres, the pit wall believed that the set could last till the end of the race.
“But it’s true that the race was quite strange because we started for one stop and then the car pushed a bit more than expected on the first stint, and then Norris struggled before us that he had two pits.
“We wanted to cover him and to stay in the same race as them because we had the feeling at this stage that we had an advantage on the tyres. But the advantage was so good that after ten laps with the hards it was clear for us that we could go on to the end.”
Vasseur admitted that there were risks involved and that the tyres might’ve degraded exponentially towards the end, causing them to lose the advantage they initially had with a one-stop strategy. Appearing quite relieved that the Pirelli tyres withstood a considerable number of laps, he went on to commend his drivers for excellent tyre management.
“Then you never know because you can have a cliff at one stage, but it was not the case and it was pretty well managed by the two guys. And at the end of the day, they were able to achieve the target lap time each lap, and very consistently.”
The Frenchman was also asked to confirm if this victory marked the highest point of his Ferrari career so far and how sweet the achievement tasted for him. Vasseur reflected on the emotional aspect of the race and answered that Leclerc’s win in Monaco earlier in the year and a home race victory this weekend hold great significance for the team. He added that, along with Imola, those are the races they particularly target as a team going into the season. Vasseur was also grateful for the passionate support of the Tifosi and acknowledged that they motivated the team to deliver a great result on their home ground.
“For sure it’s a good one; it’s for Ferrari and for Charles to win in Monaco, to win in Monza. I think it’s probably with Imola it’s the two or three that you want to take on the season. It’s more emotional than mathematical at the end of the day; you are scoring a lot more points in Monza than in Baku, mathematically speaking it’s a win.
“Emotionally speaking for sure it’s something very important because we had a huge support from the beginning of the week, from the Tifosi. Starting on Monday at the factory in Maranello, we had already a lot of people in front of the entrance, and the best way to pay them back was to win. It’s not that easy; they aren’t always under control, but for sure for the team it was the best way to pay back everybody for their support.”
