F1 – Five seconds penalty. Result: relegation to twelfth place and no points. A day to forget, for Ferrari, that of the Australian GP. After the immediate exit of Charles Leclerc who ended up on the gravel without completing a single lap, his teammate was penalized in the final stages and did not collect any points. Reason for the decision of the Fiaa contact he had with Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.
A decision that did not convince Frederic Vasseur at all. The Ferrari F1 team principal has a devil in his hair and, with words reported by “Motorsport”, he says: “there is frustration, in the end we did a good job, Carlos had some bad luck with the Safety Car and the red flag that led him to have to recover, then we collected this penalty. The frustration comes from the fact that they didn’t give us time to discuss with Carlos to take countermeasures, while a different decision was made with Alonso last week.”
In short, two different treatments and Vasseur is not happy at all. “If you ask everyone in the paddock – he continues, returning to the Ferrari driver’s contact with Alonso’s car – 50 percent will say that it is a normal racing accident, others will say that it is Carlos’ fault, we certainly see it as a race, but the most important thing in a case like this would have been to discuss it with both the riders and the marshals”.
There have been improvements on the car, he says. And precisely for this reason both what happened to Sainz and Leclerc’s exit from the scene after a few meters of track burn: “Charles is also frustrated – continues Vasseur – for him it was a racing accident, he did not blame Stroll. They were side by side and there was contact. I honestly think it was a contact very similar to that between Carlos and Alonso ”. With the difference that Sainz finished the race, Leclerc did not. And it is the second time in three Grands Prix that has happened. A little too much for the Maranello team which should travel to very different levels.
“Our steps forward aren’t purely aerodynamic – continues Vasseur – because we didn’t bring any significant changes this weekend compared to Jeddah. I think Ferrari was good today, we were fighting and not too far from the top and if we consider that Carlos was forced to come back”. Vasseur is not optimistic about the fact that the penalty imposed on Sainz can be re-discussed by the FIA. Ferrari F1 will now have to raise its head decisively and start making money like Ferrari. The GPs pass and the Red Bulls, in the standings, are getting further and further away.