Fresh from the commentary of Monaco Grand Prix 2024 which saw the historic victory of the Monegasque host Charles Leclerc over Ferrari, Carlo Vanzini he was a guest on Motor News, an in-depth program on the world of motors hosted by Beatrice Frangione and broadcast on the OA Sport YouTube channel.
The Sky commentator recounted his exciting commentary of the last lap in Monte Carlo: “I feel emotions like everyone else and like many other times there was a strong emotional charge, in this specific case very linked to Charles’ story. Trivially for the curse in his home race and much more profoundly for the path that this boy has taken and will continue to take considering what we told in the last lap: the death of his father, the importance of the Bianchi family, the fact which are figures that run with him. The thing that also struck me personally was that I had heard this narrative so strongly, right in the Principality, because we know Charles’ growth as it was.“.
“We have repeatedly talked about Baku a few days after his father’s death, when he came to race in Formula 2 and won. We told many anecdotes related to Jules, when he went to be his mechanic during the period in which he drove go-karts on the track managed by Jules’ father. He came out all over again, with incredible energy, in describing that last lap quite spontaneously. Then also in his words and in discovering that he had been crying like a baby for two turns. It was all very intense also because seeing the recent past on lap 77 you were waiting for the meteorite on the Principality of Monaco. On Sunday there was the red flag which absolutely worked in his favor, to make his race calmer“, explains Vanzini.
On the value of this success for Leclercalso in perspective: “I believe that for Charles this was a turning point, I won’t say a turning point because for those who know him there was no need at the level of a Formula One driver, but fundamental for his human aspect and for how he is made. He relieved himself of an almost physical need of necessarily having to win his home Grand Prix. It is a point of restart if we want, it is a point that frees Charles from a certain burden and perhaps the victory that he had had inside him for a long time has also arrived, having to dedicate even more to his father and to Jules Bianchi, because we have rarely heard him speak of his dad especially in post-race interviews. So it’s the whole thing that means that Charles now has one less burden on his shoulders, that is, taking the bad luck out of his home Grand Prix. However now I don’t think he will change because he won his home race. He made one of his dreams come true, but let’s not forget that his biggest dream is to become world champion with Ferrari“.
On thecarried out by team principal Frederic Vasseur: “The work that Vasseur does is there for all to see. We have very contrasting images between those of 2022 after Silverstone, with that close encounter with the finger pointed at the nose, and those of Monte Carlo hand in hand with Leclerc diving into the sea with Vasseur. This means that a feeling has been created which at the same time also keeps Carlos Sainz connected, because Vasseur’s skill in the difficulty of having to make certain choices – given that he explained how the one to Carlos was the most difficult phone call of his career – but he is called to make choices and there is a team principal who makes these choices and makes them with logic. For example, we know what Hamilton’s choice brings with it and why it was made, but at the same time he managed to keep Carlos anchored, who is not in a very easy moment because we know that his market options are not leading him in the direction you perhaps hoped for. But we saw him already on Saturday declare ‘tomorrow we’ll take Charles to victory’, then also his participation in the celebrations“.
“He felt very involved in this. I believe that Vasseur’s skill can also be seen in Carlos’s moment. Then there will certainly be moments during the year that are perhaps more tense or even more beautiful as it was in Australia for this relationship which is obviously on its way to conclusion with Carlos Sainz. The thing that Vasseur has always said is that he wants to put everyone in a position to express themselves at their best. As well as the change of track engineer, something that has been talked about for some time, and all the team’s work therefore goes in the direction of total support for the team principal who is a very strong guide. Honestly, I expected it and I must say that what he is doing goes beyond my expectations, because we are discovering a truly excellent team principal but also an excellent man on the track, the track expert who called Arrivabene at the time. It’s a great mix“, adds the Sky commentator.
On Ferrari’s world championship chances in the constructors’ championship: “From the tests I started to say that if there is a possible objective for Ferrari it is the Constructors’ World Championship, simply based on how Perez’s last season was, who at a certain point was no longer second behind Verstappen. Then the season began: 1-2, 1-2, 1-2. And one thinks that they are in a position to make it an easy 1-2. Then they told me to wait to see when they develop the car. When the developments of a car arrive that start from a platform on which the drivers have worked for a long time in the simulator, and therefore the drivers are comfortable, perhaps driver 1 adapts immediately and driver 2 takes a little time or fails to adapt. And so we have seen Perez in the last few races, in fact there was also the accident in Monaco, but little would have changed“.
“This objectively reopens the possibility that we could win the constructors’ championship. And be careful, we have McLaren and Ferrari who, like in Monaco, were allies taking away heavy points from Red Bull, but often this year they have instead been enemies of each other and therefore allies of Red Bull because they took points away from each other. Anything can happen, but I would say it would be the biggest mistake to think about the World Cup now. Now we need to think about a Ferrari, or even a McLaren, which has shown steps of growth and hope that this growth will lead us to experience very intense GPs and challenges based on the fine-tuning of the set-ups and the quality of the drivers, like in Munich. We hope to have fun, then in 4-5 races we’ll look at the rankings“, concludes Vanzini.
