F1 News
Vasseur learned lesson from Verstappen: "That's where he made a difference"
In the aftermath of his title winning drive in Las Vegas, Max Verstappen, the epitome of the 'no holds barred' modern F1 driver made a claim which resonated throughout the paddock, if he had been driving a McLaren or a Ferrari he would have won the title as well. Speaking to Autosprint, Ferrari chief, Frederic Vasseur dismissed the Dutchman's statements as "nonsense", while at the same time admitting that he was taught a valuable lesson by Verstappen's 2024 championship winning season.
Since the sixth round, the Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull started struggling to find the right development direction, with every attempt to get back on the right track seemingly making the issues worse with Imola's and Hungary's upgrade packages being integrated on the RB20 to no avail.
Meanwhile, the Miami Grand Prix saw McLaren take a leap up the pecking order, reshaping the grid's hierarchy for the rest of the season, consistently being the strongest team across the rest of the tracks. And while Lando Norris denied his chances to the title even if he had driven a perfect season, his mistakes as well as his team's, saw him lose points throughout the entire year.
In Ferrari's case the situation is a bit more touch and go, since the Italian marquee's SF-24 also experienced Red Bull's woes with their development progress coming to a hault following the long awaited and quickly discarded Spain GP upgrade. Following that, the FIA's delay in replying to Ferrari's request for clarification on the use of flexible front wings costing them two months in their development battle with the likes of McLaren and Mercedes, as per words from Vasseur himself, didn't help matters much.
However after implementing the controversial piece on the car since Singapore, the Italian team also found consistency with very strong showings in the Asian race, as well as all following GP's with the exception of perhaps Qatar, taking wins at the United States and Mexico Grand Prix in the process and finishing with a double podium in the season finale in Abu Dhabi, with Charles Leclerc coming back from P19 to finish P3 at the flag.
Verstappen's claims "make no sense"
"It makes no sense to think or say that in another team Verstappen would have won the same since it is not possible to separate the performance of a driver from that of his car. There are too many elements involved," the French team principal told Autosprint, explaining that a team's level of quality is intrinsec with their drivers' feedback.
Vasseur used Red Bull's Monza Grand Prix performance as an example to illustrate the competitiviness at the top of the field last season: “This year, however, it was enough, a small mistake, to make the team of Milton Keynes [go] down to sixth place." But this was precisely what impressed him the most about Verstappen's 2024 championship winning season.
Where did Verstappen make a difference in 2024?
“What impressed me about Verstappen this year was his ability to extract the best even when they struggled," said Vasseur, while at the same time admitting that the Dutchman's performance was a lesson for himself and his squad as well. "And this is a lesson for us, because over the course of a season in such a competitive context there are races where we are not the strongest, but it is necessary to maximize the result.
"To win, you need to make a difference when you’re not in the right place – that’s where he has made a difference," concluded the Ferrari team principal, full of praise for Verstappen.
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