Vasseur reflects on 'strange' and 'emotional' first Ferrari win

Frederic Vasseur has admitted that he was “emotional” on the podium after overseeing his first win as Ferrari Team Principal.

Vasseur joined the Italian squad ahead of the current campaign, replacing Mattia Binotto after spells with Alfa Romeo and Renault (now Alpine).

Ferrari has endured a largely challenging campaign as it has been unable to consistently compete at the front of the field amid a dominant year for Red Bull.

However, the SF-23 was the car to beat in Singapore, with Carlos Sainz bagging pole position and then leading the race from start to finish en route to Ferrari’s first win of the year.

"On the podium, it was a bit emotional because it was the first one," Vasseur told media including RacingNews365 after the first win as an F1 team boss.

"But at this stage, I was more thinking about what we did from Jeddah. Jeddah was a tough weekend for us and we had a very good recovery.

"[There was] good teamwork at Maranello and on the track. I think we have built step by step the confidence and pace.

"I’m more than proud of the job done by the factory and the team."

Vasseur wasn’t stressed during final laps

Although Sainz led the entire race in Singapore, the Spaniard came under high pressure for the victory in the final laps.

The Spaniard was being hunted by the trio of Lando Norris, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, but clung on to the lead.

Vasseur has stated that he felt more stressed watching replays of the run to the finish than he did when it was happening live.

"It was a strange feeling for me on the pit wall," he said.

"I was not too much stressed on the last couple of laps.

"Honestly, I was much more stressed when I watched the last couple of laps again after the race than during the race.

"Perhaps it is the feeling that Carlos was really under control of the situation."