Fred Vasseur slammed “idiots” ignoring blue flags which he reckoned cost Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc second position in the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Thanks to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris running off the track on Lap 10 of Sunday’s race, Leclerc was able to sweep into second place behind team-mate Carlos Sainz.
From there, Ferrari looked to be in control of a second successive one-two finish, with Sainz and Leclerc enjoying a comfortable margin over third-place Norris.
However, Norris overcame Leclerc when the Ferrari driver had a snap of oversteer coming out of the final corner on Lap 62 of the GP.
Vassuer blamed Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll for disobeying blue flags, costing Leclerc dearly.
“[Leclerc] lost three or four seconds into the traffic with some idiots,” Vasseur told Sky Sports F1.
“Norris came back, Charles pushed a bit too much. Perhaps he lost also a little bit of temperature in the tyres when he was with these guys.
“Honestly, they have to respect the blue flag and I don’t understand why the FIA didn’t give them a penalty. We had four seconds on Norris. And after the three guys, we were 1.2 or 1.3 ahead.”
Speaking further in his post-race session with select media, Vasseur said “Charles was not happy [Saturday] with P3 or P4, but still today he did a good race.
“I’m a bit upset with the story with the blue flag, it cost us P2. But at the end of the day, it is like it is, but we have to be focused now on the next one and forget this one.
“When you do five corners when the guy has a solid blue, it’s not unfortunate. It’s a mistake of the guy.”
Charles Leclerc: There was ‘no way’ I could keep Ferrari ahead of Lando Norris
Leclerc himself wasn’t best pleased with select backmarkers as he fought to keep Norris at bay.
“What a joke,” Leclerc exclaimed over team radio after being held up by Lawson.
And while Leclerc admitted there was “no way” he would keep Norris behind him forever, he claimed “laps or corners” before his oversteer snap had a part to play.
“Lando was flying, and I think as a team, we’ve been pretty lucky that whatever happened with Max and Lando at the beginning of the race, slowed him down massively,” Leclerc said.
“His second stint was very, very impressive. On my side, there was no way that I could stay in front. I knew that it would be very difficult.
“I knew that I had to have an incredible exit out of the last corner, so I tried to put everything to have a really good exit, went over the limit, lost the car and lost the position, but I felt it was a question of laps or corners before I lost that position.”
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