According to team boss Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari has dropped too many points throughout the season by making mistakes and not taking advantage of opportunities. Vasseur is therefore of the opinion that Ferarri must make fewer mistakes next year if it wants to compete for the world title.
Vasseur evaluated the races at the start of the season and it was noticeable that Ferrari dropped quite a few points by not taking advantage of mistakes or opportunities. According to Vasseur, it started immediately during the first race of the season.
“Things immediately went wrong in Bahrain when we had to retire while we were third and were penalized for the second race. It meant that Charles immediately lost about 25 points,” said Vasseur. “On top of that, of course, you give extra points to the others, including both Mercedes drivers who drove behind us.”
“But again, it’s not just that race, you can make a list. Believe me, I have made that list many times and in my head the classification without those problems and so on. You have ups and downs throughout the season.”
“We have definitely given more points to our competitors and that means it is something we have to work on for next year, that we have to be a little more opportunistic, a little more efficient.”
Vasseur says that he has made it clear to everyone in the team that they need to look ahead and not dwell too long on missing out on opportunities from the past. However, it is necessary to look at how such mistakes can be avoided in the future.
“I keep this in mind because I don’t like ‘what ifs’ because anyone can race with ‘what ifs’ afterwards and do better,” said Vasseur. “It means that it is completely forbidden in the factory to work with ‘what if’ but it is important. It’s not about finding an excuse at all because it’s our fault.”
“We have to improve in that area. There is clearly huge potential in terms of points.”