Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur insists he is entirely happy with the team’s decision to swap the running order of its drivers twice in Miami.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc expressed dissatisfaction with the team’s tactics during the race.
Leclerc was initially told to let Hamilton by, and warned the team they had dropped him close to a title=’Carlos Sainz Jnr’ href=’/carlos-sainz-jnr/’>Carlos Sainz Jnr behind. Hamilton, who complained how long the team took to issue the original instruction, was then unimpressed at being told to let Leclerc through again later.
Neither driver was able to pass Andrea Kimi Antonelli ahead of them to improve their position, though Leclerc closed within one-and-a-half seconds of the Mercedes driver by the end of the race.
Vasseur defended the team’s strategy when asked about it during yesterday’s FIA press conference. “We don’t have to learn something,” he said.
“I took a decision – I think it was a good one – and then we explained the decision to the drivers. We checked the end and the chapter was closed. The chapter is still open for you, but not for me.”
So far this season Ferrari have been unable to replicate the strong form they enjoyed at the end of last year. Vasseur said they need to understand why they have been competitive at some tracks but not others, such as Miami, where they were beaten by Williams.
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“If you have a look at our performance, I think in Jeddah in the race we were in a very strong position – we did a very strong race – and in Miami, it was not the case at all,” he said.
“It means we have to understand this and make better usage of the car and the tyres if we want to be more consistent and try to catch up a little bit with McLaren.”
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