Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said he was disappointed not to deliver a podium to the team’s home fans at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Despite showing promising pace in practice at Monza, Charles Leclerc qualified and finished fourth on Ferrari’s home soil while Lewis Hamilton recovered from a five-place grid penalty to secure sixth place from tenth on the grid.
Leclerc finished the race four seconds adrift of Oscar Piastri‘s McLaren in third, but was 25 seconds shy of race winner Max Verstappen.
“I think today that first it’s a shame and I’m disappointed to not be able to bring a podium to the Tifosi, because when you see [the fans on] the start and finish line and the podium, it would have been magic and they deserve it,” Vasseur said.
“But I think we are close to the McLaren today. It’s probably the smallest gap of the season. I think that Max was outstanding.
“From the first lap to the last lap, he was there, he was flying and he was much faster than us. But overall, I think compared to Mercedes and to McLaren, we did our job. It’s not enough, but we did our job.”
Vasseur was keen to point out that the margins were small throughout the weekend, not just in practice.
“I think we are one tenth off the first row [of the grid] yesterday,” He said. “Even if you play differently with the engine modes, the fuel and so [in practice], we are speaking about 3-4 kilos of fuel, this we never know.
“But it’s true also that even in the race it’s the smallest gap with McLaren, it was also the smallest gap in FP3, the smallest gap in qualifying, in FP1, and I think we are in better shape this weekend.
“It’s not enough because they are in front of us, but I think at least we closed the gap this weekend.”
