Formula 1 Mexican GP
Ferrari blames backmarkers ignoring blue flags for lost 1-2
Leclerc lost out on second in the closing stages
Jake Boxall-Legge Alex Kalinauckas
Published: Oct 28, 2024, 2:02 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes that Formula 1's backmarkers disobeying blue flags ultimately cost Charles Leclerc second in the Mexico Grand Prix.
Leclerc had a gap of over three seconds to Lando Norris going into the final 15 laps of the 71-lap affair at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but had to watch his advantage dissipate when the two started to lap traffic - encountering Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto.
The Monegasque then cleared the now-lapped with about half of that initial advantage, which Norris was able to close down and begin applying pressure. Leclerc then went wide at the Peraltada at the end of lap 62 and saved his Ferrari from succumbing to a snap of oversteer - which let Norris through.
Vasseur disagreed with an assessment that Norris was faster in the closing stages, stating that Leclerc lost time and tyre temperature wrangling with the traffic - particularly Stroll, behind whom Leclerc lost most of his advantage.
"It's your analysis [Norris was faster] but I'm not really aligned. I think that Charles had good pace, but we lost three seconds with the guys who were blue-flagged," Vasseur explained.
"And we also lost a lot of temperature in the tyres at this stage and he made a mistake, but I think from the beginning, the race was under control.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
"Charles was not happy yesterday with P3 or P4, but still today he did a good race. I'm a bit upset with the story with the blue flag, it cost us P2. But at the end of the day, it is like it is, but we have to be focused now on the next one and forget this one.
"When you do five corners when the guy has a solid blue, it's not unfortunate. It's a mistake of the guy."
Elaborating further when speaking to Sky Sports F1, Vasseur stated that "[Leclerc] lost three or four seconds into the traffic with some idiots. Norris came back, Charles pushed a bit too much. Perhaps he lost also a little bit of temperature in the tyres when he was with these guys.
"Honestly, they have to respect the blue flag and I don't understand why the FIA didn't give them a penalty. We had four seconds on Norris. And after the three guys, we were 1.2 or 1.3 ahead."
Read Also:
Formula 1Lawson apologises for giving Perez the middle finger at F1's Mexico GP
Formula 1Verstappen poised for Brazilian GP grid penalty for engine change
Formula 1FIA assessing if Leclerc’s Mexico press conference swearing needs investigation
Leclerc suggested that he had "no chance" of beating Norris when the McLaren driver began to close, stating that his clash with Max Verstappen had helped Ferrari build something of a buffer.
"Lando was flying, and I think as a team, we've been pretty lucky that whatever happened with Max and Lando at the beginning of the race, slowed him down massively.
"His second stint was very, very impressive. On my side, there was no way that I could stay in front. I knew that it would be very difficult.
"I knew that I had to have an incredible exit out of the last corner, so I tried to put everything to have a really good exit, went over the limit, lost the car and lost the position, but I felt it was a question of laps or corners before I lost that position."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Lawson apologises for giving Perez the middle finger at F1's Mexico GP
Next article Colapinto dismisses 2025 RB F1 rumours after Mexico GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jake Boxall-Legge
Latest news
Adrien Fourmaux confident of WRC drive despite 2027 uncertainty
WRC
WRC WRC 18 min
Adrien Fourmaux confident of WRC drive despite 2027 uncertainty
Ducati rubbishes claim 2026 MotoGP bike built specifically for Marc Marquez
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
38 min
Ducati rubbishes claim 2026 MotoGP bike built specifically for Marc Marquez
Toyota: BMW has advantage in Barcelona WEC after private test
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
1 h
Toyota: BMW has advantage in Barcelona WEC after private test
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe