Vasseur: Ferrari come to Mexico on a high

Ferrari were the only top team not to bring upgrades to the Formula 1 race last weekend in Austin, and despite that, they did a fantastic job, with Charles Leclerc benefiting from the Lap 1-fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris to take the lead of the race and win unchallenged while teammate Carlos Sainz brought the second Ferrari home in second.

This weekend in Mexico, though, will pose a different challenge to all F1 teams and not only Ferrari, as the Hermanos Rodriguez track is situated 2250 meters above sea level, which means the air is thin as turbos will need to spin hard to feed air into the V6 engines, not to mention the effect on the F1 cars' ability to generate downforce, cooling systems, etc.

And while Ferrari seem to have the best F1 car—at least in race trim— following their form in Austin last weekend, Vasseur is not getting ahead of himself and insists on being cautious.

However, he admits to the high morale within Ferrari following their US Grand Prix; he said: "We come to Mexico on a high after the one-two in Austin, which was a great motivational boost for the entire team.

"The Hermanos Rodriguez circuit presents a completely different challenge," he pointed out. "The fact that Mexico City sits at 2200 meters above sea level requires a completely unique approach when it comes to setting up the car.

"The rarified air also places additional stress on components of the car that need to disperse heat, meaning the systems, brakes, power unit and of course the tyres too," the Frenchman explained. "Finding the right balance to deal with this while getting the maximum performance out of the car is not an easy task, but we have prepared well for it back in the factory.

"Our approach to this race will be the same as any other, focusing on ourselves and paying attention to the details. As usual, I expect it to all be very close between the top teams and come the end of the weekend, we will see where we stand," Vasseur concluded.

Ferrari are third in the 2024 F1 constructors' championship and closed the gap to Red Bull, in second place, to four points, while McLaren are 40 points further ahead in the lead.