01/06/2023
NEWS STORY
Ferrari boss, Frederic Vasseur has reacted to criticism of his team's pace in Monaco, despite the fact that the Italian team was one of three actually slower than in 2022.
Finishing a distant sixth and eighth, it was another disappointing weekend for the Scuderia, and one which added to the growing feeling that Charles Leclerc is somehow cursed on his home track.
The biggest concern was the SF23's lack of pace, which like that of the McLaren and Haas was slower than in 2022, despite the fact that Ferrari brought a raft of upgrades to the Principality.
Vasseur was at pains to make clear that this was Monaco, where overtaking is difficult, and that while there were strategic errors (again), criticism of the car's pace was overly "harsh".
"I don't know if you are tough like this with Mercedes when they are behind us in qualifying," he told members of the media in a video briefing. "We were P3 in qualifying, less than one tenth off the pole position, two hundredths off the first row. I don't think it was a disaster.
"We made some mistakes throughout the weekend," he admitted, "team and drivers together, but to say that the pace was not there in Monaco I think is a bit harsh with us... to be able to fight for pole position for me was a satisfaction.
"The circumstances and the race scenario is the reason we did not show any pace," he insisted. "But nobody can say we were not on the pace.
"We were stuck behind Ocon and the frustration of Carlos came from the fact that he wanted to show the pace of the car," said the Frenchman. "I think that Ocon was managing also, but the feeling from Carlos is that we were far away of the potential of the car."
Referring to the incident in Q3 which saw Leclerc penalised for impeding Lando Norris in the tunnel, Vasseur admitted: "It was not just a matter of communication it was probably focus.
"We made a mistake as a team and I know the effort that the drivers are putting in the qualifying and the intensity of the qualifying. At the end I apologised to Charles. I think it's the right way to manage it in the team.
"I think next week probably we will have a better view of the race pace," he concluded, "because I hope that Barcelona is more relevant."
Has anyone else wondered if perhaps teams focussed a little more on pace and performance than one-off liveries and celebrations of past success...