Vasseur hails ‘perfect’ Leclerc for silencing McLaren threat

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has praised Charles Leclerc for his race-winning performance at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc commanded the race around his home streets to take his maiden win at Monaco, a venue he has struggled at for results during his racing career.

The 26-year-old secured pole position on Saturday and was unchallenged during the 78 laps, overcoming the threat from behind put forward by Oscar Piastri at the original start and the restart following a red flag interruption.

“It’s the first one for me with Charles, the first one for Charles in Monaco after a couple of years where he struggled a little bit,” Vasseur told Viaplay. 

“He did a perfect weekend from the beginning to the end.

“Even at the restart, when he had to manage, it was really in control and it was very well managed from Charles. 

“When he had to push a little bit at the end he was flying. It was a good feeling.”

McLaren threat

The win marked Ferrari's second of the season after Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz prevailed in Australia earlier this year.

With Red Bull out of the equation in Monaco this weekend, Ferrari's biggest threat rested with McLaren, with Piastri and Lando Norris starting and finishing second and fourth respectively.

Vasseur admitted the team was worried about a potential pit stop for Norris to shake up the fight at the front.

“We were a little bit in between the two McLarens also, we had to manage the gap behind us to avoid Norris to pit,” he reflected. 

“It was quite difficult to manage.

“But at the end of the day, everybody did a good job and I'm also pleased for the engineer of Charles [Bryan Bozzi, who became Leclerc's race engineer last time out at Imola] - it was a good one.”