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Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur heaped plenty of praise on the shoulders of Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard’s victory in Mexico City, with Ferrari also bagging a second podium courtesy of Charles Leclerc. That result lifted the squad above Red Bull in the constructors’ championship with four races to go – but Vasseur was keen not to get carried away.
Sainz had looked good at the Autodromo Hermanoz Rodriguez from the word go, finishing in the top three across every practice session, before grabbing an emphatic pole in qualifying. His Q3 pace was such that even his first flying run would have been enough for pole, but he improved on his second run to wind up over two tenths clear of the field on what is a relatively short track.
READ MORE: ‘I really wanted this one’ – Sainz overjoyed as he achieves goal of ‘one more win’ before Ferrari exit with Mexico masterclass
The Spaniard was also clever to manage his race, not worrying when he lost out to Max Verstappen at the start, instead trusting that he had the pace to get the position back – which he did with an impressively late braking move once the Safety Car came in. And unlike many others on Sunday, Sainz kept his move clean so there was no need for any involvement by the stewards.
“It was a perfect weekend because from FP1 [Sainz] was always on the pace, always there,” said Vasseur. “The pole, he did two times the pole with the two laps and today he had the perfect drive because he gave up the first corner because it was a bit tight.
“He was clever to give up the position and then to come back and to overtake Max [Verstappen], I think it was a perfect drive and a perfect weekend.”
Leclerc was running second to his team mate, having opportunistically made his way past the battling Lando Norris and Verstappen earlier on, but he couldn’t quite keep the position against the charging Norris late on – denying Ferrari a second 1-2 in a row.
“[Leclerc] lost three or four seconds in the traffic with some idiots and he came back, pushed a little too much, lost a little bit in the tyres in the traffic and honestly these guys, they have to respect the blue flag and I don’t understand why the FIA didn’t give them a penalty,” Vasseur fumed afterwards.
FACTS AND STATS: Ferrari’s third Mexico win lifts them above Red Bull in standings
But even with that slight blot on the copybook, the result in Mexico City lifted Ferrari ahead of Red Bull in the championship – and they are now just 29 points behind McLaren as they chase a first constructors’ title since 2008.
Vasseur has made it clear to the media that he won’t discuss the constructors’ battle, instead choosing to focus on the strides his team have made both in terms of pure car pace, and also with their strategy calls, pit stops and all round operation.
But the Ferrari boss was cautious when trying to predict what might happen in the rest of the season.
“The fight between the four teams is so tight, that sometimes for an upgrade that brings one or two tenths, you can change completely the classification. Even in the two stints today, I think we were much faster than the others on the first one, and then Lando was back on the pace in the second one.
HIGHLIGHTS: Sainz storms to victory in Mexico as Verstappen penalised twice in dramatic Norris battle
“You have to avoid to draw conclusions, I think next weekend in Sao Paulo when we start again from scratch, the top eight can fight for pole and this is the very good side, the positive side of the championship.
“We showed good pace the last four, five events… We will be competitive in Sao Paulo but it is so tight, everybody can win in Sao Paulo.”
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