Scuderia Ferrari came away from the Austrian Grand Prix with solid points and increased confidence in the potential of their upgraded SF-23, with Charles Leclerc securing second place and Carlos Sainz crossing the line fourth before being hit with a post-race track limits penalty that brought him down to sixth.
Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur said that the team’s strong successive performances at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the Red Bull Ring suggest that the team’s development efforts are having a positive effect– though he admits that there is still some way to go to compete with Red Bull Racing.
“Today’s strong result for the team, added to yesterday’s podium with Carlos, proves we are working in the right direction. If we look back, we had a good race in Canada and today we confirmed the progress made on a completely different track layout with a different surface. We still need to make another step forward if we want to fight with Red Bull and we are working hard to achieve that.”
Leclerc was able to hold onto his starting position of second place in part due to Sainz’s stellar defence, which held the Red Bull back for a couple extra laps. Vasseur said, however, that Leclerc would have most likely kept his place without the cushion provided by his team-mate.
“Charles drove very well today and I think he would have been probably safe from the attacks from Perez towards the end. However Carlos also played his part, fighting Checo, making him lose time.”
Vasseur now turns his attention to the British Grand Prix, which will see SF-23 take on a “completely different track” to those of the previous two rounds. With this comes more updates to the car, and another opportunity to prove what they are capable of as a team.
“Now we go immediately to Silverstone, on another completely different track on which we’ll need to confirm our current form to keep fighting with Mercedes and Aston Martin.
“We are doing a good job both on track and in Maranello, we will bring more upgrades in the UK and we want to keep fighting in what I think will be a long battle all the way to the end of the season.”
