Ferrari workforce principal Fred Vasseur has insisted deal with the rivalry between three-time Method 1 world champion Max Verstappen and title rival Lando Norris is “good” for the Scuderia’s personal championship hopes.
The Italian marque has slashed the hole on the high of the standings after two good weekends to start the penultimate triple-header of the season, with Charles Leclerc heading a dominant 1-2 at the USA Grand Prix earlier than Carlos Sainz took the win in Mexico final weekend – his team-mate taking third with the quickest lap.
However Ferrari’s successes have been overshadowed by on-track controversy between drivers’ title protagonists Verstappen and Norris, whose Pink Bull and McLaren groups have misplaced floor within the constructors’ race while they’ve squabbled behind – in addition to being supported by poor outcomes from their team-mates.
Vasseur’s squad now sits 29 factors adrift of McLaren in second having leapfrogged the reigning championship-winning outfit Pink Bull and he mentioned the deal with rival skirmishes was a bonus for Ferrari.
“So long as you might be all centered on Max and Norris, that is good for us,” he mentioned after Sainz’s triumph on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Frederic Vasseur, Group Principal and Common Supervisor, Scuderia Ferrari, Christian Horner, Group Principal, Pink Bull Racing
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Photos
“You could be centered on the combat between Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team principal] and Christian [Horner, Red Bull boss] between Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO] and Christian, between Lando and Max, between no matter – so long as we’re underneath the radar, it permits us to be absolutely centered on what we’re doing, on the workforce, on the drivers.
“It is a good scenario for us. I feel you [the media] may have tons to say about Max and Lando, it will likely be the headlines and it is good for us.”
Pressed on why the present combat between McLaren and Pink Bull was useful for Ferrari, Vasseur replied: “I feel it is vital for us to haven’t any distraction.
“We’re clear, we’re centered on what we’re doing, on the automobile, on the administration of the workforce. [We can] take race after race and never to consider the worldwide future – I feel it is paying off.”