Vasseur hails Sainz’s ‘perfect’ Mexico race but slams traffic ‘idiots’

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was overjoyed with Carlos Sainz's commanding win in the Mexico City Grand Prix but the Frenchman was thoroughly unhappy with those who had hampered Charles Leclerc's progress at one point in the race.

Never putting a foot wrong, despite a skirmish with Max Verstappen at the start of the race, Sainz delivered a flawless display from pole position in the 71-lap event at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to claim his fourth career win in F1 and with Ferrari.

The achievement also boosted the Scuderia's position in F1's Constructors' standings with the Italian outfit slotting into second, to the detriment of Red Bull, and now sitting 29 points behind McLaren.

“It was a perfect weekend because from FP1 [Sainz] was always on the pace, always there,” said Vasseur.

“The pole, he did two times the pole with the two laps and today he had the perfect drive because he gave up the first corner because it was a bit tight.

“He was clever to give up the position and then to come back and to overtake Max, I thought it was a perfect drive and a perfect weekend.”

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For Leclerc, however, the race was not as seamless. The Monegasque driver had initially put himself in contention for a second-place finish behind his teammate after capitalizing on a duel between Lando Norris and Verstappen.

But a frustrating episode in traffic prevented Ferrari from clinching back-to-back 1-2 finishes. Vasseur did not hold back his criticism of the drivers who impeded Leclerc's progress.

“[Leclerc] lost three or four seconds in the traffic with some idiots and he came back, pushed a little too much, lost a little bit in the tires in the traffic.

“Honestly these guys, they have to respect the blue flag and I don't understand why the FIA ​​didn't give them a penalty.”

With four races to go in this year's F1 campaign, it's all to play for in the championship among the top three contenders, with Ferrari vying for its first Constructors' title since 2008.

Vasseur, however, remained tight-lipped on the supreme battle, choosing instead to focus on the Scuderia's progress across recent races.

“The fight between the four teams is so tight, that sometimes for an upgrade that brings one or two tenths, you can completely change the classification,” he noted, adding Mercedes to the list of front-runners.

“Even in the two stints today, I think we were much faster than the others on the first one, and then Lando was back on the pace in the second one.

“You have to avoid drawing conclusions, I think next weekend in Sao Paulo when we start again from scratch, the top eight can fight for pole and this is the very good side, the positive side of the championship.

“We showed good pace the last four, five events… We will be competitive in Sao Paulo but it is so tight, everyone can win in Sao Paulo.”

A week after Leclerc's dominant win in Austin, last weekend's round of racing in Mexico confirmed Ferrari's upward trajectory as the team heads into the final stretch of a fiercely contested season.

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