'Wow, No, It's Too Far Away': Vasseur Did Not Think Leclerc's Move On Perez Was Possible
F1Monday, 20 November 2023 at 18:02
Updated at Monday, 20 November 2023 at 18:03
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur commented on the final lap overtake of Charles Leclerc on Sergio Perez during the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc started the race at Las Vegas Strip Circuit with a very good stint on medium compound tires when he showed better pace than Max Verstappen.
The Monegasque driver even overtook the slower Dutchman for the race lead after being pushed wide in turn one of the first lap.
However, safety car deployment helped his Red Bull Racing rivals Verstappen with Sergio Perez with a two-stop strategy as they lost much less time.
The Ferrari driver got overtaken by Perez on lap 32, and it looked like the Red Bull of the Mexican driver would go on to win the race, but Leclerc held on to him and overtook him back on lap 35.
The battle between the two drivers helped Verstappen to catch up and gradually make his way past both of them. The Flying Dutchman then broke the one-second gap to Leclerc and escaped to take the race win.
However, the battle for second place was still on as Leclerc made a mistake in one corner and gave Perez a chance to retake the second position yet again on lap 43.
The 26-year-old then had seven laps to catch up with Perez, and he did on the final lap of the race. The Monegasque made an incredible overtake into turn 14 to snatch the second place from Perez.
The overtake was so great even the Mexican driver confessed he did not expect it. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur also told the media he thought Leclerc was too far away to make the overtake.
"The lap before at one stage I was like: 'We will try to do it' but I had the gap on my dash and said: 'Wow, no, it's too far away. It's too far away."
Despite maybe hoping for a better result before the beginning of the race, Leclerc seemed to be really motivated and happy to take second place in the end. Vassseur concluded:
"But the lap after I was a bit surprised, probably less than Checo, but I thought it was make a good move and I think [Leclerc] was so motivated."
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