Ferrari’s Mexican GP qualifying result even better than pole in Hungary

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur declared their qualifying performance in Mexico their best so far this season.

Although the team claimed a surprise pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix, this weekend’s race is the first time they have had both cars so far forward on the grid. Charles Leclerc will start second, one place ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton.

“It’s a good one, probably the best from the beginning of the season, even if we did the pole in Budapest,” Vasseur told the official Formula 1 channel.

“I think this one is a bit better because we were there from the beginning, from Q1, Q2, Q3, it went well. We saved also one set [of soft tyres] for tomorrow for Charles, and this is important.

“But overall, I think it was a proper quali and so far a very good weekend.”

Vasseur said the team benefited from a smoother run through practice in Mexico. “The big difference is that if you start on a good foot[ing], it’s much easier to fine-tune everything than when you have the poor Friday.

“[Like] Friday in Austin, it’s quite difficult to recover and to fine-tune the car and the driving. I think in this weekend in Mexico, we are overall doing a better job.”

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Carlos Sainz Jnr won the Mexican Grand Prix for Ferrari from pole position last year. Vasseur is anxious to avoid a repeat of the previous year’s start when Leclerc was hit by Sergio Perez’s Red Bull.

“Let’s try to have a good start, it’s important,” he said. “Two years ago we had contact in turn one with Charles so let’s try to have a good start and we’ll see for the rest of the race.”

“I prefer to have two cars in front than one car in front and two cars at the back,” he added. “For sure, it’s a much better start. Now, let’s see the strategy tomorrow.

“You know that Mexico, it is a lot about cooling, clean air and to find your space and so on. That means that it will be probably a lot of strategy.”

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