Vasseur claims Ferrari podium at Monza was NOT a success

Carlos Sainz's first podium of 2023 is not a success, according to Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur.

The Spaniard couldn't hold off the rapid Red Bulls in race trim despite claiming pole at the Italian GP and he even had to fight to keep third.

His Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc put big pressure on him late in the race as the Prancing Horses were allowed to fight for a podium in front of the Tifosi.

Despite reaching the rostrum and being comfortably the best of the rest behind the runaway leaders, Vasseur does not see the result as a success in the grand scheme of things.

READ MORE: Sainz sets NEW F1 record for 2023 amid battle with Verstappen

Vasseur: A strange feeling

“For sure, it’s a bit of a strange feeling," Vasseur said to Sky Sports. "As you said, I think that I’m a big fan of [letting] them race. It was a great feeling, I told them no risk.

"The notion of no risk is always relative, but I really appreciated the last couple of laps and I hope that the fans did too. As you can imagine we’ll have the discussion after the race, but probably not tonight.

"Tomorrow they are in the factory. In the moment, I told them no risk, but I didn’t freeze the position.

“Don’t be negative. When you freeze the position you say ‘Don’t freeze the position’. Success? No, because we are racing to do one-two.

"At the end of the day, I think it was quite obvious that the pace of the Red Bull was better than us and I think we did our best. I’m quite happy with the result today."

READ MORE: F1 Team Principals: Who are the men in charge in 2023?

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