Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur claimed Charles Leclerc “blew up everything” in his ill-fated attempt to wrestle the lead of the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix from George Russell.
Leclerc made a fine start on race day in Vegas, going from fourth to second in the opening sequence of corners to chase polesitter Russell.
In the opening stint, Leclerc tried to attack the Mercedes driver, but Russell held firm.
From there, aggressive graining hampered Leclerc and he gave up time hand over fist, falling behind team-mate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen before pitting.
Asked post-race whether he saw the graining being such a significant issue for Ferrari, Vasseur said, “Not on the medium, but it’s really depending on the pace that you want to have.
“I think Charles was behind Russell and when he tried one lap to push and to attack Russell, he blew up everything.
“It was true also for [Lewis] Hamilton at the end.
“It’s really on the edge always and [the drivers] have to trust their feeling also and it’s not an easy one but it is like it is.”
“It’s true that at the end of the first stint, we lost something like 10 seconds and then you can’t pit also because then you are in the shadow of the mid-pack and if you pit at this stage, you have to overtake everybody.
“You have to wait for the others, and it’s what happened with Charles, you have to wait for the others to pit, in order to pit yourself and it’s a tricky situation but it’s like it is.”
Graining issue not attributed to single factor, says Ferrari team boss
With extremely cold track temperatures at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, graining was always going to be an issue for teams and drivers alike.
Ferrari managed the situation better than most, just not Mercedes, as Sainz and Leclerc finished third and fourth respectively.
Asked if the Ferrari SF-24 had an inherent issue that caused Leclerc’s opening stint to be so tough, Vasseur said a variety of factors were at play.
“I’m not sure that it’s the Ferrari or the drivers, it’s a combination of conditions,” Vasseur explained.
“If you push the setup of the car, the compound and sometimes you are putting yourself if you have a look at the second and third stint with the same compound for everybody with the two sets of hard you have also difference of performance, it means that it’s not just related to the car it’s sometimes related to the level of fuel, or how you open the stint.
“Because if you have a look at Charles for example it’s when he tried to overtake Russell that we lost the tyres and on the second and third stint we have drivers who push a little bit more the first two or three laps and they open the graining much more than the stint after when they are a bit conservative.
“The issue is that when you are on the track you are racing with a competitor and you have a car in front of you and you want to push and it’s very difficult to find the right approach.”
READ MORE – Ferrari: Charles Leclerc Las Vegas radio rant ‘won’t be an issue’
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