Fred Vasseur praises the excellent 2023 season that rightfully topped Verstappen but in addition thinks that when the Dutchman was put underneath strain, he confirmed some small cracks…
Max Verstappen accomplished a near-perfect 2023 season, securing 19 victories out of twenty-two races. He scored factors in all 22 races, set a season document with over 1000 laps led. Clinching his third World Championship title, Max Verstappen displayed impeccable driving, making no errors resulting in crashes or retirements.
Solely Sergio Perez at first of the season and Carlos Sainz in Singapore managed to problem his dominance. These have been sporadic occasions, minor disturbances within the huge desert of Verstappen’s supremacy, irrelevant in altering the established order of a yr that rightfully topped Max because the System 1 World Champion for the third time.
Frédéric Vasseur, Crew Principal of Ferrari, acknowledged all of the deserves of Verstappen and Crimson Bull for an distinctive job that began in 2022 and culminated in one more triumph, the season finale in Yas Marina just a few weeks in the past.
“It’s not honest for anybody to have doubts about his 2023 season; Max had an distinctive season,” declared Vasseur to Motorsport.com. “He was battling with Perez within the first 2-3 occasions, then he was on one other degree.”
Fred Vasseur additionally commented on the absence of evident errors, which made Verstappen’s dominance much more distinguished, emphasizing that the real lack of opponents for many of the season accentuated this.
“Clearly, he made no errors all through the season, and when he struggled in qualifying, like in Jeddah, it was as a result of a mechanical difficulty. After which he was all the time there, all the time had good begins, no contacts. The one difficulty he had was in Las Vegas.” – the French supervisor identified.
“However I feel we’re getting a bit nearer to him. I don’t need to say we’re placing him underneath strain as a result of it’s not true. In Abu Dhabi, he wasn’t underneath strain. However he was extra underneath strain in comparison with Zandvoort and different occasions the place, actually, he was flying.” – he added.
Fred Vasseur emphasised that as quickly as Max (and Crimson Bull) confronted strain from behind, they made errors, albeit not as evident. This raises the query of what’s going to be wanted within the upcoming season to problem him and induce extra slip-ups and errors.
“As I mentioned, there’s little doubt that Max dominated the whole season. The one difficulty for us is that, like everybody, he makes extra errors when underneath strain.”
“However nobody managed to place him underneath strain this season, besides us within the final two or three occasions, or besides Carlos in Singapore, the place we gained the race.”
“And that’s the place he began to make some errors, or perhaps Crimson Bull made some errors when it comes to setup. We have been too far-off to place them underneath strain,” concluded the Ferrari Crew Principal.
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