Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur said Carlos Sainz’s pole position in Monza, and Charles Leclerc’s third on the grid, is a nice reward for Ferrari’s hard work over the past few weeks to improve performance.
Sainz managed to take pole position for the Italian GP with a lead of just 0.013 seconds over Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc also performed very well because the Monegask was only 0.067 seconds slower than Sainz. Team boss Frederic Vasseur was very happy after qualifying.
“It’s a nice reward because we’re talking pure performance here, one lap at Monza, to be first and third, so close to Max, even Charles was one tenth away. It is a great achievement in terms of development and pure performance.”
Afterwards, Charles Leclerc had said that a lack of slipstream prevented him from going for pole, but according to Vasseur a lap without a slipstream was better.
“I am convinced that it is still better without slipstream,” said Vasseur. “You see the advantage of the slipstream on the straight but you have a disadvantage in the corners. Max drove without a slipstream and that was the right decision.”
Vasseur now wants to try with two cars to put Max Verstappen and Red Bull under pressure.
“Having two cars in the top three is always an advantage, which means you have more options strategically,” Vasseur said ahead of the race. “However, I think it will be more about sheer speed than strategy…the strategy looks good though.”