Scuderia Ferrari’s Pursuit
The inconceivable mission was not accomplished. Nevertheless, 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 thought 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 crew principal, who spoke to Sky microphones shortly after the checkered flag.
Fred Vasseur Speaks After the Abu Dhabi GP
“We’re all disenchanted,” stated the French supervisor, “however we did the most effective we might. It was an excellent race by Charles and Carlos, and in the long run, we aren’t very removed from McLaren, solely 14 factors behind (within the Constructors’ standings), but it surely wasn’t at the moment that we misplaced the championship. As an alternative, we’re glad with the work we’ve performed 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 disenchanted. I need to congratulate McLaren; I believe they did an distinctive job. We’re additionally on the identical pattern as a result of this yr we’ve performed higher than final yr, preventing till the tip for the title. I’ve loads of respect for them, for the corporate, for the drivers, and for the crew, so I need to first congratulate them.”
Fred Vasseur’s Score 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 an excellent begin for 2025 as properly. My score 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 folks within the crew work collectively; we’ve had powerful 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 constructive 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 properly, and we modified the whole lot to attempt once more. Everybody was very open about it, there was no inside battle, and that’s an excellent signal. Tomorrow, I’ll have the ability to say that it was a really constructive season, with 5 wins in comparison with one final yr 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? At the moment, I wasn’t targeted on him, however he did a fantastic job recovering and overtaking Russell on the finish. However we’ll give it some thought subsequent yr, I’m completely satisfied as a result of we’ll have a fantastic group of individuals working collectively.” – the French supervisor concluded on the finish of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.