Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur believes a podium “would have been possible” for Charles Leclerc at the 2023 São Paulo GP if the Monegasque’s SF-23 hadn’t suffered from a systems failure which meant he crashed out in the formation lap, after losing his hydraulics and gearbox.
Photo Credits: Scuderia Ferrari
Leclerc was due to start in a promising second place in Interlagos, but bizarrely crashed out when arriving into turn six during the formation lap. The electronic systems in his Ferrari detected something wrong with his power unit, and automatically turned off the hydraulics and gearbox – locking the rear wheels and sending the Monegasque straight into the barriers, meaning he didn’t even take the start for the race.
Speaking to selected media after the race, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur explained the system shutdown that sent his driver towards the wall, and made his frustration clear on what could have been a promising race for him, after the team focused “everything” towards Sunday’s main event, sacrificing Sprint Saturday entirely in order to have new tyres for the grand prix:
“It [was] a system issue, the systems switched off the hydraulics and the engine,” said Vasseur. “The reason of the command from the system we don’t know yet, because the car is not back, but it was more of an electronic problem. When the system shuts off, you don’t have any power steering or gearbox.
“For sure, it’s very frustrating for Charles [Leclerc] and for the team. The issue is that also strategically over the weekend, we put all our effort into long runs and save tyres – we didn’t put new tyres for the [Sprint race] – we put everything on the [main race], and [then] we didn’t take the start.
“It was frustrating and more than disappointing, but I’m sure he will be back and he will be focused on [Las] Vegas.”
The Scuderia now holds an unwanted statistic, as it has failed to start with one car in two of the last four races – the other instance being Carlos Sainz’s fuel leak ahead of the Qatar GP – but Vasseur shrugged off any relation between the two issues, and went on to explain some of Leclerc’s unfortunate moments during the last few races – which included a shunt in the first corner in Mexico and a disqualification through no fault of his own in Austin:
“It is like it is, it’s not for the same reason,” he said about the two DNS’s. “[In Mexico] we were in a sandwich between the Red Bulls, Charles had nothing to do, he was in between.
“[In Brazil], it wasn’t Charles’ fault at all – on social media [some] were complaining about Charles’ [driving] – but [he was] without the gearbox and the power steering.
“Now we have to stay calm, to understand what happened to avoid any issues in the future.”
The Frenchman believes the circumstances were favourable for a podium and a greater advantage over Mercedes in the fight for P2 in the constructors’ championship had Leclerc’s car held up – but quickly pointed out that it’s “bullshit” to race with what should or would have happened in mind:
“The pace over the weekend was not that bad, we were in a good position – and it’s a missed opportunity, because we were catching up Mercedes [in the constructors’ championship] a little bit over the weekend.
“With Charles on the front row and with two sets of new tyres, it could have been much better. We have still two attempts, in Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
“It would have been possible,” said Vasseur about a podium for Leclerc in Interlagos. “If you consider that we were with two sets of new [tyres], starting in clean air, the two Aston [Martins] didn’t have a great start.
“[But] this kind of [assessment] is bullshit, I think it’s racing. You don’t have to race with ‘if, if, if’.”
The 55-year-old believes Ferrari will have an “opportunity” to close in on Mercedes at the Las Vegas GP if the pace delta between the two teams stay the same as it was in São Paulo – which saw the Brackley squad trailing behind the red cars by quite some margin.
