After the accident between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix last Sunday, George Russell from Mercedes took the lead. He managed to hold off Oscar Piastri from McLaren, who finished in second place, while Carlos Sainz from Ferrari secured third position on the podium.
Following the race in Spielberg, television footage captured Toto Wolff and Frédéric Vasseur embracing and laughing during the podium celebration. The two are known to be close friends in the paddocks.
When asked about his interaction with Wolff during the post-race press session, Vasseur joked, “I called him a rascal and told him he’s back.”
Although Mercedes seems to be regaining its momentum, Wolff admitted that their victory in Spielberg was largely a result of the Norris and Verstappen accident, rather than their own performance. On the other hand, Ferrari appears to be struggling to keep up with the pace of the Mercedes and Red Bull teams, despite upgrading their SF-24 car in Barcelona.
Although they have shown a slight improvement, Ferrari had another challenging weekend in Austria. Charles Leclerc, in particular, had a disappointing performance in the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying sessions. Leclerc encountered an anti-stall issue during the Sprint qualifying, which prevented him from completing a final lap. In the main qualifying session, he made a mistake on his Q3 lap and started the race in sixth place.
Due to an incident on the first lap, Leclerc remained at the back of the grid for most of the race and finished in 11th place. Sainz had a better overall performance, securing third place in the race and fifth place in the Sprint.
When asked about Ferrari’s difficulties despite his previous statements of going in the right direction, Vasseur replied: “The question is a bit tough. Honestly, if we had completed the lap in qualifying yesterday [referring to Leclerc’s lap], I believe the comments would have been: ‘You’re back, you’re competing with Red Bull, you’re less than a tenth off pole position’, and so on. But regardless of that, our approach remains the same.”
Vasseur emphasized that the team’s mentality and strategy should not be altered based on individual race results. He acknowledged that Ferrari has had both successful and challenging weekends, but their commitment to improvement and progress remains unchanged. Vasseur expressed confidence that the next race in Silverstone will be beneficial for Ferrari and mentioned that they have future updates in progress.
In the current Constructors’ standings of the 2024 Formula 1, Ferrari holds the second position, behind Red Bull Racing by 64 points. McLaren is just behind in third place, 23 points behind Ferrari.
