Vasseur doesn’t ride the controversy but stings Mercedes: “It always runs well for them…”

The Russell case The Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur, showed a certain fair play at the end of qualifying and did not ride too much on the many controversies that followed George Russell’s conquest of pole position, which arrived despite the single yellow flag waved in the last sector due to Max Verstappen going off the track. Vasseur acknowledged that from a regulation point of view it is difficult to attack the decision taken by the stewards, but he did not fail to throw a dig at the Mercedes team, no stranger to controversial episodes this season – both on and off the track – which have turned in its favor and to Ferrari’s disadvantage. Vasseur’s analysis “It must be said that there was only one yellow flag and not two – Vasseur admitted to the microphones of Sky Sport F1 – then it can be discussed whether it was a right choice to put only a yellow flag in those conditions. They had to bring out a medical car, but it is clear that you have to reduce the speed by 5% in each sector and we do not have access to the data. The pole position that is taken under the yellow flag is a bit strange, but that’s how it happened.” That Vasseur does not particularly agree with what has been decided by the FIA, however, is clear: “Safety issue? Yes, it is the first point of the discussion – he explained – was the double yellow needed in that circumstance, when there is a car against the wall? I have my idea on the matter: you cannot complain about safety and give a penalty, perhaps in a free practice, when someone slows down not by 5% but by 4% and then leave the drivers free to push in this situation. This is another thing that is went in the wrong direction for us and the right one for Mercedes. We continue to fight, I don’t want to waste energy on the controversies and I want to focus on tomorrow’s race. Of course, very often the coin always turns in the right direction for Mercedes.” Confidence for the race The satisfaction of having seen a competitive SF-26 and a Leclerc finally found himself remains, for Ferrari and for Vasseur: “We had a rather difficult Friday, but honestly I think we did an excellent job both on the track and in the factory in the simulator to make up ground – commented the Ferrari team principal – the pace was much better since this morning and then in qualifying we improved step by step. Now there will be a race that is difficult to predict, because it will be even hotter than two weeks ago in Barcelona. We will need to have a lot of clean air ahead, to make the tires work well. But did I expect Leclerc to be like this? Yes, because at the beginning of the weekend he had some good sectors and we were just struggling to put everything together. Yesterday we struggled, but the pace was there.”

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-28 02:12:00