Ferrari issue ‘14 points are missing’ verdict after McLaren title defeat

Ferrari were not quite able to reel in McLaren in the Constructors' Championship at the end of 2024.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admitted to having “races in my mind” where points were on the table in 2024, after narrowly missing out on Constructors’ glory to McLaren.
The Scuderia ended the season 14 points behind McLaren at the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi, with Lando Norris holding on for what became a vital victory at Yas Marina on Sunday evening.
Ferrari admit ’14 points are missing’ after narrow Constructors’ defeat to McLaren
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
While McLaren ended a 26-year title drought in the Constructors’ standings, Ferrari have not earned a championship since 2008 – but went into the Abu Dhabi finale knowing that overhauling their rivals by 21 points or more could see them bring the World Championship back to Maranello.
Vasseur was right to point out all the improvements that have been made across the board at Ferrari this season, but acknowledged that coming so close to the title and missing out made him look at the “frustration” behind where the points were missing, rather than when there is a larger deficit.
Giving his assessment of Ferrari’s year, Vasseur said with a smile to media including PlanetF1.com in Abu Dhabi: “Good one, but not enough.
“I think that if you compare with one year ago, it’s a huge step forward. On every single KPI [key performance indicator], everything is green., and we did a good one in terms of pit stop strategy, reliability, we improved everywhere – even in terms of pure performance.
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“It’s true that, at the end, 14 points are missing, and if you are 80 or 100 points behind, you don’t feel the frustration. Fourteen points, you have, or at least tonight, I have tons of races in my mind where we lost 14 points this season, but it is like it is.
“McLaren also had some issues, and just that we have to do a better job next year – but I’m also quite proud of the step that we did.”
As for where they lost out, Vasseur pointed to the only double DNF the team had of the season, back in Montréal, where they had been expected to be competitive, as a chance for a good points haul.
But in that mid-season run of races between Canada and Silverstone, Ferrari took 49 points, whereas McLaren earned 111 in the same four rounds.
In Hungary, a one-two finish for McLaren put even more daylight between the two teams, with another 23 points added to the gap – making it a game of catch-up for the remainder of the season that ultimately proved too much come season’s end.
“I think on paper, Canada was a good one for us, and we came back from Canada with a double zero,” Vasseur explained.
“That was a bit hard, and we had three or four races in a row with the upgrade when we struggled a little bit. This period, I think we lost something like 80 or 90 points on McLaren.
“Then you had a tough weekend like Baku, even if we did a P2 with Charles, but I think we were in a position to do a much better job.
“Singapore was a tough one with the two cars ninth and 10th in quali, I think we could expect much better, but this is true also for McLaren.
“If you have a look, I think that McLaren, if you go through the season, you can find tons of points – but it’s my job is also to try to minimise these losses.”
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