That said, sometimes a race weekend just completely unravels on you. The Sao Paulo Grand Prix proved to be a genuinely painful affair for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton dragging their machines home to eighth and ninth places respectively in the final classification at Interlagos.
Here's the thing: the team arrived in Brazil carrying heavy baggage. Both drivers knew they would face 10-place grid hits for taking new power unit elements. Life for Lewis Hamilton got even uglier when an issue with his new engine in FP3 forced yet another change for Qualifying. Only the misfortune of other drivers saved him from dead last, letting him start P20 while Charles Leclerc dropped to P14 after initially qualifying fourth.
If you have a look, Alonso was faster on the lap after with the inter. I think we anticipated when we pitted Lewis – it was to be aggressive, and perhaps a bit too much.
Now, the start of the race offered a flash of the brilliant madness we live for. Hamilton gained 11 places on the very first lap, rocketing up to an astonishing ninth place, though he quickly had to hand a spot back to Ollie Bearman after making the move off track. But the beast was impossible to tame. Both drivers were bleeding pace while struggling to keep their intermediate tyres in the right temperature window. Hamilton's frustration boiled over and he called for an early switch to slicks, becoming the first driver to make the change. It didn't fix the fundamental agony. He battled to get the dry rubber working, survived a spin when the rain returned, and crossed the line ninth.
Charles Leclerc fared little better early on, though he finally dug up some real pace in the closing stages. Unfortunately, he got a bit too eager trying to snatch seventh from Liam Lawson. A clumsy bit of contact just before completing the pass earned him a penalty that dropped him down a spot in the final classification. Team Principal Fred Vasseur didn't mince words about what dominated their Sunday.
“I don't want to speak in details of technical stuff,” said the Frenchman. “Pero for sure it's a lot about tyre temperature, and in certain phases of the race or certain conditions we are struggling more.” He added, “As usual, when you have an issue with tyres, the effect or the impact is always much, much higher than the characteristic of the car, or the upgrade that you bring. You can bring an upgrade a weekend, if you are not in the right spot with the tyres, you are nowhere because the magnitude of this is half a second, but most of the upgrades or the characteristic of the track is tenths.”
Vasseur also pointed to their top speed deficits and the nightmare of fighting through traffic when only a single dry line remained. When asked about Hamilton gambling early on slicks, Vasseur admitted, “If you have a look, Alonso was faster on the lap after with the inter. I think we anticipated when we pitted Lewis – it was to be aggressive, and perhaps a bit too much.”
Meanwhile, Mercedes wrapped up the Constructors' Championship at Interlagos, leaving Ferrari a distant second and extending Maranello's excruciating wait for a title back to 2008. “I think everybody on the grid wants to win, wants to fight,” Vasseur said. “And we are all competitors, and we all want to win. When you start the championship, you have this goal. Now we knew from the beginning that it would be difficult for us, we understood from the first straight line, and I think the team did a good job to continue to push to develop the engine. I think on the chassis side, on the grip limited side, we are more than performant. But yeah, for sure, congratulations to Mercedes – and see you next year!”
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