Ferrari address ‘crucial’ element behind Leclerc heroics

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has stated his squad's upgrade at the Italian Grand Prix played a crucial outcome in the race result.

The Maranello-based squad showed up at its home event with a modified car, including changes to the engine cover, floor and diffuser while low-downforce wings were fitted to suit the high-speed characteristics of Monza.

Charles Leclerc took his second victory of the year as Ferrari triumphed on home soil, executing a one-stop strategy to beat McLaren to the chequered flag.

Leclerc moved ahead of Lando Norris at the race start and stayed in contention with the McLaren cars, who fell behind through strategy.

Asked how crucial the upgrade was to its performance, Vasseur told media including RacingNews365: “Honestly, it's quite difficult to understand the impact of the upgrade on a track like Monza because we are in such a different configuration compared to the rest of the season.

“But at the end of the day, when you see qualifying and you have six or seven cars in less than one-tenth, every single bit makes the difference.

“But [for] one-hundredth, I'm keen to go for it, at the end of the day we had four cars within two-hundredths [during qualiyfing].”

While Vasseur stated the upgrade was important to the outcome of the weekend, he concluded Ferrari's ability to win was linked to its tyre management.

“For sure, you can say that the upgrade is crucial,” he said. "But in the end, the pace [in the race] was more linked to the tyre management.

“It’s in quali where you have six or eight cars [between] one or two-tenths that every single upgrade will pay a lot.”