Scuderia Ferrari
Charles Leclerc #16
"It was a tough race and there are things we have to review and work on. We weren’t the fastest out there, but in such weather conditions, there was a chance of scoring some big points, which we didn’t capitalise on today. I lost a few positions after the spin at Turn 11. In the end, it wasn’t that bad with the Safety Car that came out later on, but then we stopped a lap too late to switch to Inters, losing positions again. There are two things we have to look into. The first is easy—it was my mistake. The second is something we will sort out as a team, looking into our decisions and making sure we make the right call if the situation comes up again. It’s a continuous process of improvement. We are disappointed, but it’s good to know we’ll be back in the car in just a few days in China to give it another go."
Lewis Hamilton #44
"Not the start we wanted, but there’s lots to take away and work on from this one. The start was okay, but I lost momentum out of Turn 1 on the outside of Charles and got stuck behind Albon for most of the race. The rain always mixes things up, and strategy comes down to timing and a bit of luck. We took a gamble and made up places, but then boxing too late for Inters cost us, dropping us to the back of the top 10 with too much ground to recover. I struggled with the balance, but it was an important race for learning more about the car in different weather conditions, as well as gaining more experience working with a new team. McLaren and Red Bull had serious pace, so there’s work to do, but we’ll dig deep. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car next weekend in China."
Fred Vasseur – Team Principal
"We can’t be happy with today’s result as it doesn’t match the potential of our car, and that means, as a team, we didn’t do a good job. Charles got a good start, and Lewis was also fighting to move up the order. Then, when the rain returned, we took the risk of staying out, as indeed did Max (Verstappen). But then we got our next strategy move wrong by staying out one lap too long, and we paid the price. As for positives from the weekend, we had strong pace on Friday in both qualifying and race trim, matching Mercedes and Red Bull, just a bit behind McLaren. It’s also good that in a few days we will be back on track, which means that very soon we will be able to evaluate our potential once again. It’s a very long season, and we just have to continue to work hard."
