Scuderia Ferrari’s Pursuit
The inconceivable mission was not accomplished. Nonetheless, for a second, with the incident between Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri in flip 1 and Charles Leclerc’s highly effective restoration within the early laps, the concept of beating McLaren appeared rather less like a mirage. Thus, the frustration on Charles Leclerc’s face on the Abu Dhabi podium was additionally that of Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari’s staff principal, who spoke to Sky microphones shortly after the checkered flag.
Fred Vasseur Speaks After the Abu Dhabi GP
“We’re all disillusioned,” mentioned the French supervisor, “however we did the most effective we may. It was an excellent race by Charles and Carlos, and ultimately, we aren’t very removed from McLaren, solely 14 factors behind (within the Constructors’ standings), but it surely wasn’t immediately that we misplaced the championship. As a substitute, we’re glad with the work we’ve achieved and the enhancements all through the season, particularly with how we reacted after we had points. The ultimate result’s this; we got here very near profitable, so we’re a bit disillusioned. I have to congratulate McLaren; I believe they did an distinctive job. We’re additionally on the identical development as a result of this 12 months we’ve achieved higher than final 12 months, combating till the tip for the title. I’ve a variety of respect for them, for the corporate, for the drivers, and for the staff, so I have to first congratulate them.”
Fred Vasseur’s Ranking for Ferrari
“We all know,” he added, “that we didn’t do an ideal job this season, that there’s nonetheless room for enchancment in each single facet. However I’m additionally very proud and proud of the journey, particularly the previous couple of months. It’s begin for 2025 as nicely. My ranking for this season? It’s 6 or 7… I do know I’m a bit harsh, however there’s room for enchancment, and we have to keep motivated. I’ve seen the individuals within the staff work collectively; we’ve had robust moments in Canada, with the replace in Spain, and with incidents in Singapore and Baku, however every time we got here again stronger after the setbacks, and that is optimistic for the longer term.”
The Key Second of Ferrari’s Season
After the Abu Dhabi GP, Fred Vasseur pointed to the replace launched between the British and Austrian GPs as one of many key moments of the 2024 Formulation 1 season: “That’s after we realized the updates weren’t working nicely, and we modified every little thing to strive once more. Everybody was very open about it, there was no inside battle, and that’s signal. Tomorrow, I’ll be capable of say that it was a really optimistic season, with 5 wins in comparison with one final 12 months and about 50 extra factors, however there’s clearly additionally the frustration of getting ended with greater than 600 factors however 14 behind McLaren, which is a really small margin. Hamilton? Immediately, I wasn’t targeted on him, however he did an excellent job recovering and overtaking Russell on the finish. However we’ll give it some thought subsequent 12 months, I’m glad as a result of we’ll have an excellent group of individuals working collectively.” – the French supervisor concluded on the finish of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.