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Ferrari

Fred Vasseur explains Ferrari strategy error in 'aggressive' Mercedes pursuit

Ferrari deployed an unusual strategy in the Austrian Grand Prix in a poor showing for the team.

Hamilton FP1 Austria
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Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has explained the errors made in strategy by the team in the Austrian Grand Prix - as it went "aggressive" to try and defeat Mercedes.

From second and third on the grid with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari scored an eight-five result respectively after opting for a three-stop strategy, on a day the other front-runners opted for a two-stop.

In Barcelona, the team was able to pressure Mercedes with aggressive strategy calls to allow Hamilton to win, but in Austria, the Ferrari boss felt the Scuderia was too fixated on challenging Mercedes when that was not their "realistic" race.

"It was a tough weekend, especially coming after Barcelona," Vasseur said.

"I don't think we got the weekend off on the right foot on Friday, as we struggled a lot in FP1 and FP2 and weren’t able to complete proper long runs in representative conditions.

"In the end, we managed to recover some performance over a single lap in qualifying, with P2 and P3, which was a good result. But we probably didn’t prepare for the race as well as we should have.

"Looking back, we were probably too focused on Mercedes. We pushed too hard in the opening laps with both cars and then perhaps reacted too aggressively with the strategy, trying to stay with them when, realistically, that wasn’t our race today. 

"We will learn from this, refocus on ourselves and immediately turn our attention to the British Grand Prix next week."

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