Despite claiming pole position, Charles Leclerc was beaten to victory in Baku by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri
Fred Vasseur believes the 2024 Azerbaijan GP was a missed opportunity for Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc‘s hopes of victory failed to materialise despite starting on pole position with the team principal pointing to Ferrari’s tyre approach.
The Monegasque claimed pole for the fourth year running at Baku, with many picking the Scuderia as the team to beat heading into Sunday’s race. However things didn’t play out like the Italian team had hoped after McLaren’s Oscar Piastri got the better of Leclerc to take the victory.
Vasseur noted that Ferrari‘s pace during the first stint may have actually worked against them as it resulted in a false sense of optimism. Vasseur indicated that Ferrari took a conservative tyre approach after switching to the hard tyres, which gave Piastri the opening to pass Leclerc and take the win.
“In the first stint we felt very comfortable, especially with Charles. We dominated that part of the race. Perhaps, however, we were also far too optimistic then,” Vasseur told select members of the press.
“The pit stop was okay, but we lost in both inlap and outlap. The first few laps with the tyre was important for the second stint, but it was probably not the right approach. We were immediately overtaken, and it was difficult to try to pass Piastri. And staying so long in dirty air damaged Charles’ tires.
“Yes, maybe we could have done better, but we were on the first lap of the second stint and it was important to protect the tyres. Of course, it was also important to protect, but Charles probably didn’t realize when Oscar was fast on the straights and surprised him.
“We had the potential to win with our package today. We were on pole, we were dominating, and there was room to do a better job.”
The closing stages not only saw Ferrari miss out on victory, but also a second car on the podium finish as Carlos Sainz‘s race ended in the wall after colliding with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Vasseur admitted he would have preferred to end the weekend on a different note, but that he was nonetheless pleased given Ferrari closed the gap to Red Bull in the constructors’ standings, while leaders McLaren now hold a 51 point lead on the Scuderia.
“I’m only seeing it again now, but I think they both tried to catch Charles’ slipstream in front and collided. It’s true that Checo doesn’t do much to avoid contact, he didn’t move at all, but it’s a shame to end the weekend like that,” said Vasseur.
“In the end we had a good race, with a podium, we made up points on Red Bull and that’s important. But there is some frustration about the crash and losing to Piastri.”
