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Frederic Vasseur

Vasseur 'not scared' of Canada repeats after Ferrari struggle

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is adamant the Scuderia's difficult Canadian GP will not lead to changes of approach, saying he is "not scared" of similar weekends in the future.

Vasseur Canada II
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Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur will not shy away from failure, saying he is "not scared" of experiencing weekends similar to the Canadian Grand Prix in the future.

Coming off the back of the Scuderia's strongest weekend of the season, there was reason to believe it would be another good weekend for the Italian team in Montreal. However, what transpired was anything but that.

Buoyed by pole position and the one-three finish in Monte Carlo, many had expected Ferrari to be in the thick of the fight with Red Bull and McLaren at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but the SF-24 lacked pace and both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggled to get on top of the car.

Despite the difficult weekend, Vasseur was adamant it would not change the team's approach moving forward, nor would he be "scared" of repeat performances.

"You know that sometimes the feeling [is] that everything is going wrong and everything is going against you, but that won't change the approach," he told media including RacingNews365. 

"We are working as a team with the drivers, that [is] in the good and the bad moments, and we will keep the same approach for next weekend. We continue to work together but I'm not scared of this kind of weekend but like it is and it's racing."

Both Leclerc and Sainz were eliminated early from qualifying on the Saturday after the pair failed to make it out of Q2. This consigned them to P11 and P12 on the grid respectively.

Things went from bad to worse on Sunday. A power unit issue hindered the Monegasque driver's progress, before a poor pit stop decision saw him have to make an extra stop to get back onto the correct tyres in changing weather conditions.

This led to him being lapped by the leaders before he had to ultimately call it a day, his Ferrari finally succumbing to its engine issues.

Sainz meanwhile was battling in the lower reaches of the points when he spun at Turn 6 on lap 53 of 70, just one lap after Sergio Perez found the wall at the same corner. As the Spaniard rolled back on the circuit, he collected the Williams of Alex Albon, forcing them both into retirement.

With Max Verstappen winning for Red Bull, the gap in the constructors' championship grew from 24 points to 49.

Despite the double did-not-finish (DNF), Vasseur was quick to state that he did not feel it was the most difficult weekend the team had faced.

"It was not the best one," the 56-year-old said. "The most difficult, I don't know that. But, for sure, it was not the best one."

Also interesting:

Max Verstappen hit back after an out-of-sorts Monaco GP, Sergio Perez floundered again - and into a controversial retirement. How much damage can Ferrari and McLaren inflict with Red Bull fighting with one hand tied behind its back, did the Milton Keynes-based team re-sign Perez too soon? After a thoroughly entertaining Canadian GP, host Nick Golding is joined by Ian Parkes and Samuel Coop to analyse all things.

Rather watch than listen to the podcast? Click here

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