F1 News

Vasseur clarifies Ferrari disqualification: 'Not for cheating

Vasseur on Hamilton disqualification: 'We're on a quest for perfection'

28 March at 18:00

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the F1 Chinese Grand Prix's official results, which Ferrari team boss, Frederic Vasseur, clarifies cannot be interpreted as cheating, as the Scuderia was only trying to be as aggressive as they could be.

The Frenchman and Ferrari came out of the weekend with a Sprint pole and victory, but with a double zero from Sunday's race, in conversation with French journal, L'Equipe, he explains the context surrounding the double disqualification they suffered on Hamilton's as well as Leclerc's car.

"We had to be too aggressive. That's how it is. This disappointment shows that we are in search of perfection and that, sometimes, we look too far."

Vasseur stresses the Scuderia were not cheating, and outlines the on-the-edge nature of the competiveness in F1.

'Not cheating, it's simply riskier when you are on the limit'

"We have to make a distinction between disqualification because we take risks and disqualification because someone is cheating.

"The goal of the game in F1 is to go to the limit of all parameters, everywhere. To get to the last gram of the weight, to get to the last tenth of a millimeter of the skid (floor wear indicator), to get to the last millimeter of fin deformation.

"So for sure the more pressure you are, the more intense the fight, the closer you need to get to these limits and the more risks you take."

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