The United States Grand Prix was a wildly successful weekend for Ferrari on paper, but as Motorsport.com reports, the team is left wondering what might have been. Charles Leclerc dragged his machine to a brilliant second-place finish behind Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, and the newly upgraded car possessed blazing-fast race pace with tyre degradation fully under control. Yet inside the Scuderia garage, team boss Fred Vasseur is convinced that two specific moments denied them a massive double podium and potentially even the outright race victory.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz, Vasseur agreed that Leclerc had the underlying pace to win the race under different circumstances, pointing squarely at Saturday's performance as the root of their Sunday troubles. Vasseur explained that missing the mark during the final laps in Q3 was the most crucial error of the weekend. Because track position is everything in modern Formula 1, that Saturday misstep forced Ferrari to burn their tyres fighting through traffic while Antonelli cruised in clean air at the front.
Despite missing the win, Ferrari was actively hunting down Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in the closing stages of the race. Lewis Hamilton was reeling in Verstappen's struggling RB22 at a rapid pace, setting up a blockbuster battle for the final podium spot. But just as Hamilton was closing in, Valtteri Bottas suffered a mechanical failure and pulled his Cadillac over to the side of the track, triggering a late virtual safety car that completely neutralised the race and saved Verstappen's third-place trophy.
Kravitz humorously noted the silver lining that Bottas' Cadillac uses a Ferrari power unit, though because the car could not be moved, it was clearly a hydraulic failure rather than an exploding Ferrari part. While Vasseur was likely relieved his customer engine did not blow up, the timing of the VSC was devastating for Hamilton's charge. Vasseur admitted that without the VSC, it probably would have been a double podium, noting that Hamilton was closing fast.
Despite missing out on the double podium, Vasseur leaves Texas feeling highly optimistic about the heavily scrutinised aero upgrade package the team brought to the Circuit of the Americas. Concluding his thoughts with a forward-looking mindset, Vasseur stated that the team needs to do a better job next week, fine-tune everything, and continue to push ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix.
