Scuderia Ferrari – Syndication Server

Ferrari takes great pride in response to title blows – Vasseur

A double-DNF in Canada was central to Ferrari’s failure to win the 2024 constructors’ championship, but team principal Fred Vasseur says the response to such difficulties bodes well for the future. Ferrari lost out to McLaren by 14 points in the …

Ferrari lost out to McLaren by 14 points in the constructors’ fight, missing out on a chance to win the championship for the first time since 2008. Vasseur says the overall team performance was a clear sign of Ferrari’s progress compared to the previous season but Canada stands out as the particularly costly weekend after failing to score.

“For sure it’s a bit of a mixed feeling, because I think that we did a good step forward compared to 2023, I would say on every single pillar.” Vasseur said. “Reliability was better, the strategy was good, pit stops went well, the performance was there. We scored 60 percent more points than one year ago; we have five wins against one. I think [by all metrics], it’s green.

“The only [negative] is that we finished the season 14 points behind McLaren. Again it’s not in Abu Dhabi that we lost something. On average during the season, I think McLaren scored 26, 27 points per weekend, and we scored more than this in Abu Dhabi. It’s probably more in Canada with double zero, or the summertime when we struggled a little bit — Spain, UK, Austria.

“We struggled here, and in this period of four races, we lost something like 80 or 90 points on McLaren. They also have their downsides to the season. It’s like this when you have four teams fighting, that you are always up and down. You have a kind of frustration the Sunday evening in Abu Dhabi when you are 14 points behind McLaren. Over 600 [points each], it’s not that much.

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“If you have a look at this season, the first race that came to my mind when I said, ‘OK we are 14 points behind,’ it’s Canada. Canada we had the double zero with a reliability issue on Charles [Leclerc’s car] and I think a race incident for Carlos [Sainz], and I think that McLaren didn’t have [any].

“McLaren had a race incident with [Oscar] Piastri, but … they score points, and when you are in this kind of fight with four teams, if you score zero-zero it’s quite tough to come back, which means that reliability is key and we have to avoid the crashes. We had one or two crashes, but in this kind of championship that is too much.”

Despite the race in Montreal standing out to Vasseur, he was also impressed by Ferrari’s response as it fought back from a run of disappointing races to get so close to winning the title. Not only did it show a strong understanding of the car’s problems, he says it’s reflective of a shift in culture within Maranello.

“I think the approach this year, as a team, was very good, even when we had the tough June, July,” he said. “The reaction from the team, as a team, was very good. We never blame someone or [any] department; we work together to come back, we work together to find solutions between the different groups, and it went well.

“You can always say that it would have been better to not have the issue, but I think the reaction was good, and it’s what we are also expecting for the future if we want to fight for the championship. And yes, it’s part of what we want to have.

“When you are trying to fix a goal for the team it’s to work as a team, to act as a team, to not blame someone when we have issues. It’s easy to say, but it’s not easy to do when you have the pressure of the result and the pressure of the races. I was not there before — I can’t judge on the past — but I was very proud of the reaction of the team this year.”

APEX Lifestyle – One of a kind Ferrari man cave

Dreaming of the ultimate automotive man cave? Take a look at the passion project of Ron Adams. An emphasis on detail and a love for racing in red have been combined to create one of the most intricately detailed garages at Apex Motor Club, which has …

“The inspiration for the garage comes from a trip in Modena to visit the original Scuderia Ferrari garage that’s now a museum. The garage was perfect. It was a building that was old brick, old world, whitewash walls, clean, immaculate and minimalistic. It was just stunning,” recounts Adams, whose garage has successfully created the persona and craftsmanship so often associated with legendary brand.

For 12 years a successful publisher – including the automotive magazine Via Corsa – Adams’ garage has an authentic Micheal Schumacher F1 nose cone, driving simulator and multiple race cars, two from his Ferrari Challenge racing activities. Adams says that having his race cars in the garage makes it easy to drive year-round. Previously for Adams, and is often the case with racers, their cars reside in remote race team facilities.

In addition, “For years I’ve wanted a man cave, a garage and place to put all my stuff. This is a culmination of decades of racing (in Ferrari Challenge and elsewhere). And an homage to the Scuderia Ferrari. The garage is a place to live, a place to hang out, a place to enjoy everything that I’ve accumulated, everything to share with everybody else,” says Adams.

The garage floor is 1,250 square feet plus a 625 square foot mezzanine, and if needed, Apex members can acquire and connect two side-by-side garages for double the space. The spaces start as shells that include mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, electrical and a half-bath. From there members can customize around their dreams and vision, or the Club can assist in the process. To learn more visit here or message sales@apexmotorclub.com.

Second Monza victory just as special as the first – Leclerc

Charles Leclerc says his second victory at the Italian Grand Prix is as special as his first after pulling off a one-stop strategy to win for Ferrari at Monza. Oscar Piastri led the majority of the race from teammate Lando Norris, with Leclerc …

Charles Leclerc says his second victory at the Italian Grand Prix is as special as his first after pulling off a one-stop strategy to win for Ferrari at Monza.

Oscar Piastri led the majority of the race from teammate Lando Norris, with Leclerc dropping from second to third after the first round of pit stops. While McLaren opted for a two-stop strategy, Leclerc stayed on a set of hard compound tires for 38 laps to hold off Piastri by 2.6s, with the home crowd cheering with increasing volume every lap the Ferrari driver passed by and closed in on victory.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Leclerc said. “Actually, I thought that the first time would just feel like this, and then the second time, if there was a second time, wouldn’t feel as special. But, my God, the emotions in the last few laps, exactly the same, like in 2019, just watching the grandstand inside of the track. which is tricky but incredible!

“Monaco and Monza are the two races that I want to win every year. Obviously I want to win as many races as possible and the world championship as soon as possible, but these are the two most important races of the season and I managed to win them this year. It’s so, so special.”

Leclerc admits he wasn’t expecting to be in the mix for victory at Monza given the performance seen earlier in the weekend, and was unsure about the one-stop strategy until he had clear air. Guaranteed to emerge in third place if he made a second stop, the Monegasque felt it was a gamble worth taking.

“Before the race, if you would have asked me, the one-stop was definitely the thing I wanted to do,” he said. “After 10 laps, I think we saw that Red Bull started to struggle with the front left on the hard, and then we started to doubt the one-stop. We thought that it would be a lot more difficult because we thought that the hard would be a more difficult tire to bring to the end.

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“However, as soon as I put it on, I still thought that this was a possibility, especially when Oscar pitted two or three laps after that. I felt like I had more grip not having a car in front, especially on the front tires, and that’s where I really thought that the one-stop, we could make it work.”

“Today I did not expect it going to the race. I thought that we would struggle a bit more compared to the McLaren, but also compared to the Mercedes that seemed to have a really good pace on Friday.

“However, after a few laps, I saw and I felt the car was in a good place. Oscar maybe was a little bit quicker. It was difficult to see Lando’s pace as he was behind. Then once we got undercut, I was like, ‘OK, maybe we are losing the win there.’ But then once both pitted, I actually picked up quite a lot of front grip, having the free air in front. Being the last car [to pit], I didn’t have much to lose by trying the one-stop.

“We did a really, really good job with that front left, which has been very, very tricky for everybody. We had a lot of front graining, but managed to take that front grip again. That helped us to win today.

“To stand up on that podium in front of all the Tifosi after such a week, because it’s a very tiring one … It’s an incredible feeling to be racing for Ferrari in Monza, but it’s also very tiring. To be able to win here is extremely special.”

Leclerc surprised by qualifying lap that didn’t feel front-row worthy

Charles Leclerc says he was surprised to set the second fastest time in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix as his lap didn’t feel particularly strong. Max Verstappen was comfortably fastest in a wet qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, but …

Charles Leclerc says he was surprised to set the second fastest time in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix as his lap didn’t feel particularly strong.

Max Verstappen was comfortably fastest in a wet qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, but Leclerc’s final lap in Q3 earned him second in the classification, meaning he will start from pole position due to Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty. Leclerc says he was aiming for a top five result heading into qualifying given Ferrari’s recent form, and he had not expected his lap to be good enough to beat the rest of the field.

“I’m very surprised,” Leclerc said. “Actually, even when I finished the lap, I didn’t feel like it was worth a second place. I mean, it was a good lap, a clean lap, and that’s what you need in those conditions. I believe that especially when you get to Q3 in the last lap, everybody knows that this is the lap, and that pushes people to maybe do more mistakes.

“On my side, it was a clean lap, but not an incredible lap, so I’m very happy to be P2. I definitely did not expect that. I think as a team, today, P5 would have been a bit of a good result, and today we are P2 and tomorrow we will be starting on pole. That’s a good thing, but as I said, we don’t have any magical solution for the race pace and it will be a bit of a tricky day tomorrow.”

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Leclerc was one of the few drivers to improve with their last runs in Q3, and he says tire preparation was central to that jump up the order to beat Sergio Perez to second.

“We didn’t change the balance that much from Q1 to Q3. I think where we improved quite a bit was to put the tires in the right window. That was super important, and in those conditions that’s always where you struggle.

“We did some modifications especially on the out lap and how much you push and where you push. Then I felt more at ease, and that helped me for Q3. It was all about fine tuning the out lap and putting the tires in the right window.”

While the Monegasque believes Ferrari’s race pace could be a cause for concern based on the struggles it has faced over the past four rounds, he says he’ll simply focus on trying to keep Perez at bay at the start before seeing how the long run performance pans out.

“It’s going to be a tricky race for us. It will be dry conditions, and in dry conditions, recently, we’ve been struggling a little bit more. However, the McLaren is a bit further away than what we wanted. There’s Checo right behind. That will be the main target, and then we’ll see how it goes after the first stint.

“But it’s a good starting position. It’s also a track where you can overtake quite easily, so we’ll need the pace. We’ll only have the answer tomorrow.”

Sainz picked wrong driver to be ‘a bit spectacular’ with – Leclerc

Charles Leclerc says Carlos Sainz was not following the strategy given by Ferrari when trying to “do something a bit spectacular” in overtaking his teammate early in the Spanish Grand Prix. Sainz went round the outside of Leclerc into Turn 1 to take …

Charles Leclerc says Carlos Sainz was not following the strategy given by Ferrari when trying to “do something a bit spectacular” in overtaking his teammate early in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Sainz went round the outside of Leclerc into Turn 1 to take fifth place in the opening laps, squeezing the other Ferrari at the apex and causing light contact that saw the Spaniard run wide but retain the place. Leclerc says that went against the plan for looking after tires early in the race and he feels Sainz was trying to make a statement in front of his home crowd but shouldn’t have done so on his teammate.

“We had a clear strategy at the beginning of the race with the team to both save tires to attack late on,” Leclerc said. “However, Carlos on that lap didn’t do any saving in Turn 14 and of course had an opportunity to overtake in Turn 1, which is a bit of a shame because we lost time between us. I damaged my front wing because of Carlos making the turn, not seeing that I was on the inside and that makes our race more difficult. But it wouldn’t have changed the end result significantly.

“I didn’t understand the point of doing that when it was clearly stated before the race that we had to save in this part of the race. It’s a bit unnecessary, but I also understand that I guess it’s his home race, and it’s also an important moment of his career, so I guess he wanted to do something a bit spectacular, but I probably wasn’t the right person to do that with.”

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The two drivers swapped positions later on as Leclerc chased George Russell to the flag — finishing 0.3s behind the Mercedes — but he was less concerned about the incident impacting his chances of finishing higher than fifth.

“When you look at how close we finished with George in front, there’s always things we can do better, but we just didn’t have enough pace to do anything better today.”

Sainz also had another incident that saw him run slightly wide at Turn 1 as Lewis Hamilton overtook him on the inside, and he was unhappy that the stewards allowed the move to stand.

“I felt like he ran me off the track,” Sainz said. “I was half a car length ahead, and normally the rule this year says that if you’re ahead around the outside, they need to give you space, if you have half a car ahead. That’s normally what the stewards have ruled this year.

“So I was trying to benefit from that rule, because that’s how they’ve ruled up until now. I’m not saying he was racing hard or not hard — just trying to apply the rule that the stewards have applied all season.”

Ferrari pair shocked at Saturday struggles but eyeing recovery

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz admit they were shocked to find Ferrari lacking so much pace as both dropped out in Q2 at the Canadian Grand Prix, but believe the race could be a different prospect. Ferrari arrived in Montreal as the slight …

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz admit they were shocked to find Ferrari lacking so much pace as both dropped out in Q2 at the Canadian Grand Prix, but believe the race could be a different prospect.

Ferrari arrived in Montreal as the slight favorite after Leclerc’s victory in Monaco, with the car looking well-balanced over curbs at the bumpy street circuit. However, throughout Saturday, both drivers appeared to be struggling for performance and Leclerc will start 11th ahead of Sainz in 12th after they missed out on a Q3 spot by less than 0.1s.

“I don’t have any explanations for now,” Leclerc said. “In FP3 already we felt that something was wrong. We couldn’t see what was wrong and that was exactly the same in qualifying, where it definitely felt like something was wrong but nothing we could see was wrong.‌

“The grip was just extremely poor in the first sector especially, and then once you slide in the first sector it’s a snowball effect and you never really get the performance out of the car. So yes, difficult weekend.

“It’s very surprising. I did not expect that and it’s obviously disappointing, but we’ve got a race [today]. I believe that in the race the issues that we have had in qualifying will be a bit different.”

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Sainz was similarly perplexed, but believes Ferrari might have failed to get the car set-up right compared to its Monaco strength.

“We are a bit surprised too,” Sainz said. “Everyone knows, because since FP3, really, we saw we were slow and this weekend was going to be a tough one and you never expect to go from fighting for a win and pole position to being out in Q2, but this is Formula 1. I’ve seen worse things happen and we will go back and analyze why we’re struggling around here.

“I think right now, I can just tell you we are lacking grip and our ride doesn’t look as good as it did in Monaco. For these reasons — lack of grip, warm-up, ride — everything around Canada seems trickier than Monaco.”

Sainz backed up Leclerc’s prediction that the race could be a different prospect, however, with rain forecast to be an additional challenge on Sunday.

“We will see. I think there’s two or three factors that could spice up the race, which is obviously the weather and the graining,” he said. “There was a lot of graining in FP3 and a lot of mixed weather coming [Sunday]. These two things hopefully will make the race a bit chaotic and will mean that we can move forward.”

Leclerc driving through tears at Monaco – ‘You cannot do that now!’

Charles Leclerc says he had tears in his eyes during the closing laps of the Monaco Grand Prix once he knew he was gong to win his home race for the first time. The Ferrari driver has taken pole position three times in Monaco but on each of the …

Charles Leclerc says he had tears in his eyes during the closing laps of the Monaco Grand Prix once he knew he was gong to win his home race for the first time.

The Ferrari driver has taken pole position three times in Monaco but on each of the previous two occasions he was unable to even finish on the podium — failing to start in 2021 and dropping to fourth due to a strategic error a year later. There was no stopping him on the third attempt, however, as Leclerc led from lights to flag but admits the enormity of the moment was setting in long before the finish.

“I think where I struggled the most to contain my emotions was during the last 10 laps of the race, more than on the podium,” Leclerc said.

“I realized…two laps to the end that I was struggling to see out of the tunnel just because I had tears in my eyes, and I was like ‘[Exlpetive] Charles, you cannot do that now; you still have two laps to finish!’ Especially on a track like Monaco, you have to be on it all the way to the end.

“[Containing those emotions] was very difficult, those thoughts again of the people that have helped me get to where I am today. It’s only a win. The season is still very, very long. It’s 25 points like any other win, however, emotionally, this one means so much.

“I think the fact as well that we’ve started twice from pole position in the past and that we couldn’t manage to get the win for one reason or another, that we couldn’t really control, not in our control, makes this one even more so special.”

Leclerc lost his father back in 2017 when he was on the way to winning the Formula 2 championship, a year before his promotion to Formula 1. Having enjoyed huge support and been close to his father, he says the importance of the win from that perspective was also on his mind.

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“Obviously Monza in 2019 was extremely special, but Monaco is the grand prix that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver,” he said. “I remember being so young and watching the race with my friends. Obviously with my father, that has done absolutely everything for me to get to where I am today. I feel like I didn’t only accomplish a dream of mine today, but also one of his.

“It’s just such a special weekend overall. It’s a street track, it’s such a difficult track to put everything together from FP1 to qualifying, to all the laps that you have to do in the race. To finally make it in front of my whole family, my friends that were watching all over the track is a very, very, very special thing.

“[My father] was very much in my mind, as I said. I think in every race I have done, there has not been one single race where I was thinking about this kind of personal stuff inside the car, because you’ve got to stay on it. Maybe Baku in 2017, obviously everything was still very fresh for me, so it was difficult to manage mentally.

“However it’s probably the first time in my career that it happened again while driving, when you’ve got these flashbacks of all these moments that we have spent together, all the sacrifices that he has done for me to get to where I am.”

Leclerc looks to pressure Verstappen during Miami GP

Charles Leclerc believes his performance in the sprint shows he is likely to be able to put Max Verstappen under pressure in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix. Verstappen started from pole and won the sprint early on Saturday, but Leclerc offered a threat …

Charles Leclerc believes his performance in the sprint shows he is likely to be able to put Max Verstappen under pressure in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.

Verstappen started from pole and won the sprint early on Saturday, but Leclerc offered a threat off the line and then stayed close to the Red Bull for the entirety of the race with only the final lap seeing the gap extend beyond three seconds. After replicating a front-row start for the grand prix, Leclerc says he feels close enough to put up a challenge on Sunday.

“It felt so much on the limit,” Leclerc said. “Obviously it was very close until Q3, where when we started to push for the last one or two tenths, we started to lose the tires in sector two and three, overheating them quite a bit. Sector one was actually feeling really good, but then sector two and three we were losing too much.

“So today, that’s where we lost a little bit of time. However, the race is long tomorrow. This morning we showed a good pace. I hope tomorrow we can put Max under a bit more pressure.

“[The start] and keeping the DRS if we don’t get past by Turn 1 [are key]. DRS is super powerful here. And if we lose it after the first lap, then it’s always difficult to come back within DRS, so we must not lose it. But first of all, there will be the start. This morning we had a good one and tomorrow I’ll try to have an even better one.”

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With Carlos Sainz starting ahead of Sergio Perez in third place, Leclerc also feels there could be strategic opportunities for Ferrari in the full race.

“[In] the Sprint race we were a little bit closer to what we normally see,” he said. “However, I also said that Max wasn’t really happy with his car this morning in the sprint race, so we need to see how much of a step forward he does tomorrow, being happier with the car.

“But we did some fine tuning on our side. We’re also confident we did a step forward, so we’ll see. If we have a similar pace like we’ve seen this morning, then I think with strategy you can always put a bit more pressure. I hope that is the case. We’ve got the two cars in the front, so it’s a good opportunity.”

Although Verstappen was one of many drivers complaining about unpredictability on their qualifying laps, he says he feels Red Bull has improved his car following the sprint.

“It definitely felt a bit more connected, a bit more predictable, which hopefully will help me tomorrow in the race,” Verstappen said.

“Honestly, the only thing that we can control is within ourselves, so that’s what we’ll focus on. As long as I’m happy with my balance in the race, I think we’ll be alright. It just needs to be a bit better than what we had today in the race. I think if we can achieve something like that, that we’re in a bit of a happier window, then I’m sure we’ll be quick.”

Leclerc answering critics with front row start in Miami sprint

Charles Leclerc believes he’s put a stop to critical comments about his qualifying form after securing second place on the grid for the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix. Qualifying had been a strength of Leclerc’s after a run of consecutive front row …

Charles Leclerc believes he’s put a stop to critical comments about his qualifying form after securing second place on the grid for the sprint at the Miami Grand Prix.

Qualifying had been a strength of Leclerc’s after a run of consecutive front row starts, but then he was outqualified in consecutive races by teammate Carlos Sainz in Australia and Japan, as well as the sprint qualifying in China. Leclerc put that down to struggles with tire preparation and was the lead Ferrari in China’s main qualifying session, and after securing P2 in Miami despite missing FP1 he believes he’s ended any questions regarding his qualifying results.

“Yeah, I am [happy],” Leclerc said. “I am because qualifying has been a weak point for two races in a row… China was a little bit better but we didn’t have the car to actually show that.

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“On such a difficult weekend — because…I did one lap in FP1, so I had to go into qualifying and go [flat out straight away]. We are also only allowed to use one set of tires in SQ1 so it was very, very tricky, but straight away I felt the feeling, and the hard work I have done earlier in the season to try and put the tires in the right window have paid off.

“I’m happy because there are so many talks now, and you are as good as your last race in this sport. Obviously when you have two races in a row where you are bad in qualifying — where I haven’t done a great job — people start to talk. It’s good to stop that, but now we obviously need to work on the consistency and try to stay in that level and put those tires consistently in that right window as I have said in the past.”

Starting alongside Max Verstappen in the sprint, Leclerc says he will hope for the chance to win Saturday’s race as he currently does not know whether he has the car to challenge Red Bull this weekend or not.

“I have no idea about our race pace. I did one lap again, so I have no idea…but I really hope we can have a good sprint and have good race pace to have hopes for the win on Sunday.”

Leclerc paces Australian GP practice again on tricky tires

Charles Leclerc held the top spot in final practice ahead of Max Verstappen at the Australian Grand Prix. Leclerc set the fastest time of the weekend so far on the overcast and cool early Melbourne afternoon, lowering the benchmark to 1m16.714s with …

Charles Leclerc held the top spot in final practice ahead of Max Verstappen at the Australian Grand Prix.

Leclerc set the fastest time of the weekend so far on the overcast and cool early Melbourne afternoon, lowering the benchmark to 1m16.714s with a last-gasp lap after the checkered flag.

It was his second run on a set of the soft tires, which have proved difficult to master for most drivers at Albert Park.

The tires in use this weekend are the softest in the Pirelli range and one step softer than those used last year following complaints the tire supplier had been too conservative in 2023.

Verstappen notably struggled to get to grips with Pirelli’s softest compound, complaining late in the session that the rubber was moving around too much in the high-speed corners relative to the medium tire. It took him two cool-down laps and a late blast on a very used set of softs to string together a lap without suffering overheating, putting him just 0.02s behind Leclerc.

Sainz, who is still recovering from his appendectomy undertaken two weeks ago, had held top spot until the final flurry of laps but ended up third and 0.077s shy of his leading teammate.

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Mercedes was much improved on Saturday morning after a night of analysis at the factory in Brackley. Lewis Hamilton in particular looked much happier in his W15, running 0.092s off the pace after what he described as his worst Friday of the year and despite early concerns about straight-line speed in the opening runs of the session.

Russell followed 0.08s further back in the sister car.

Fernando Alonso led Sergio Perez in sixth and seventh ahead of Oscar Piastri, the home favorite perpetually troubling the top of the time sheet after he “[stopped] being an idiot in turn 1,” allowing him to match the leaders in the first sector.

Lance Stroll led home Lando Norris in ninth and 10th, both more than 0.3s slower than their teammates.

Yuki Tsunoda led home a tight bottom half of the field separated by just 0.29s from 11th to 18th.

Valtteri Bottas followed in 12th ahead of Alex Albon, who was driving Logan Sargeant’s surrendered chassis after an overnight switch between teammates to keep the Thai driver in the grand prix.

Zhou Guanyu was 14th ahead of Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Pierre Gasly completed the order in 19th at 1.676s off the pace.

Sargeant is no longer taking part in the grand prix after the Williams team used his chassis to replace teammate Albon’s crashed one, having not manufactured a spare tub in time to ship to Melbourne.