25 AugDutch GP

A wonderful podium from Charles. A great recovery from Carlos

Zandvoort 25 agosto 2024

The Dutch Grand Prix provided Scuderia Ferrari HP with a more than satisfactory result. As the sun finally appeared in Zandvoort, the SF-24 proved to have great race pace and the entire team’s execution of the race was almost faultless. Overall, the team made up eight places on a track where overtaking is known for being almost impossible. Charles Leclerc went from sixth to third and Carlos Sainz from tenth to fifth. That delivered another 25 points which means the gap to Red Bull in the Constructors’ classification has hardly changed, with the team and Leclerc both third in their respective championships, with Carlos in fifth place.

Perfect execution. The Scuderia’s Sunday showing was something of a crescendo after the first two days saw it in difficulty. Despite both lining up on the dirty side of the track, Charles and Carlos got very good starts, immediately making up places. The Monegasque went round the outside of Sergio Perez to take fifth place, while Carlos immediately got ahead of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso to go eighth and then seventh on lap 11 with an aggressive move on Pierre Gasly. The team called Charles in on lap 24 for the switch from Medium to Hard tyres and he then pushed hard, with a wonderful undercut on George Russell and Oscar Piastri which took him from fifth to third. It was another six laps before Carlos came in and he only just missed out on emulating his team-mate, unable to get ahead of Perez. The Mexican held on for around 15 laps until, with a clearly stronger pace, Carlos made a move on lap 47 at turn 1 which the number 11 Red Bull could do nothing about. He was now sixth and set off in pursuit of Russell who pitted on lap 56 thus conceding fifth place. From then on, the Spaniard maintained his excellent pace to the flag, closing on Piastri and Leclerc who were fighting for the final spot on the podium. The Monegasque had a brilliant final few laps, fending off the McLaren to bring him a seventh podium of the season, the 12th for the team, the 37th of his career and the 819th for the Scuderia.

Heading for Monza. It goes without saying that the SF-24’s performance in today’s race, despite not sporting any upgrades, is a great confidence boost for the whole Scuderia Ferrari HP team, which can expect the usual welcome from the huge number of tifosi in Monza for next week’s Italian Grand Prix. The home track is one of a kind and should better suit the characteristics of the Maranello-built cars which will have some upgrades that it is hoped could up the level of competitiveness compared to the rival teams, which as always are proving to be very strong. Today’s podium is no doubt the appetiser that will serve to warm up the fans and their support will be a further boost for Charles and Carlos.

Charles Leclerc #16

It’s not often that I would say I am happy with a P3, but today, I am extremely happy with the job the team has done on such a difficult weekend. We struggled in all sessions since FP1, and managed to put it all together when it matters most. We found the pace we needed, executed a perfect strategy, undercut our competitors and kept them behind. It feels great to start the second half of the season like this.

Next up is Monza, our home race. We will give it our all to make our tifosi proud there.

Carlos Sainz #55

This is a good result as we didn't expect to have such a positive race, especially after a very difficult start to the weekend. We executed a very solid race all along with good overtakes on track and a fast pace, especially with the hard tyre once I cleared the cars ahead.

Charles also had a very good Sunday and I'm happy for the team. We'll definitely arrive in Monza in high spirits and I can’t wait to race in front of our tifosi!

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari HP

We were not very optimistic coming to Zandvoort, but today it went very well for both sides of the garage: we had good starts, good strategy, good pit stops, with both drivers managing their tyres very well. Charles was able to keep (Oscar) Piastri behind him and deserved this podium. We have to be positive and appreciate this, even if we have to keep in mind that (Lando) Norris was a long way ahead and really, we need to focus on getting wins, not finishing P3.

Looking at the race, already on Friday, we felt we were in better shape on used tyres than with new ones. So, overall it has been a good weekend and we must build on this. There are still nine races to go, some of them will suit us better than others and we must see what we can do with the new package that is coming soon, but today has certainly been a confidence boost for the team. Tonight we will allow ourselves to enjoy this podium and as from tomorrow we will focus on Monza.