Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur refuses to blame the wind for failing to convert promising pace into pole position at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Despite setting the pace throughout practice, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton failed to convert their promise into pole at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday.
The Monegasque led the field on Friday, topping FP1 and FP2 with Hamilton setting the fastest lap of the final practice session before qualifying.
That said, the top-10 shootout saw the Ferrari drivers only able to post the fourth and fifth-fastest times, respectively.
But rather than blame the gusts of wind that impeded the final flying laps of every driver out on track, Vasseur demanded better execution from the team after missing out on the “potential to be at least on the front row.”
“There are mixed feelings for sure because I think the potential was there all over the weekend and we had good pace in all the free practice, and until the last corner, we are fighting for pole,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“It is as it is, and it is all part of the game, but I think [the race] will be a different exercise, and it will be difficult with a lot of degradation, but for sure, there is a bit of frustration because we had very good potential until the last corner of Q3.
“We were in better shape. Q2 was a bit faster for everybody [than Q1], and we all struggled to improve in Q3; perhaps it was a bit of wind, but it is also a distraction for the drivers, but okay, it is the same for everybody.
“We can’t complain about the wind; this would be bulls**t, and we have to do a better job on the last lap, because we had the potential to be at least on the front row.”
Vasseur makes “hero to zero” Ferrari admission after F1 US GP qualifying disappointment
The Frenchman argued that having pace in the package was just not enough in the modern era of the sport.
Vasseur explained how minor mistakes and offsets can have major ramifications on results – turning a driver from “hero to zero” in a single corner.
“For a couple of hundredths, you can move from P2 to P6 or P7, from hero to zero, and it’s a gust of wind or one metre [earlier or later] on the braking point,” he added.
“We have to stay calm when we are speaking about potential. It’s a different story, but it’s F1, and it’s like this from now for a couple of races.”
Despite the disappointment of qualifying, Leclerc at least is optimistic about the race on Sunday. The last time he started from P4 on the grid, at the 2024 US GP, the Monegasque went on to win the race for the Scuderia.
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