It wasn't the grid penalties that compromised his drivers in Brazil, insists Fred Vasseur, but their tyres and the failure to get the best out of them.

Both went to Interlagos aware that they faced grid penalties for taking on additional engine components, however a further engine change for Lewis Hamilton put the Briton at the back of the grid, while his teammate started from 14th.

The seven-time world champion made a blistering start and was ninth by the end of the opening lap, though he subsequently had to hand a position back to Oliver Bearman having passed the Haas driver in the process of running wide.

Digging deep into his vast wealth of experience - this was his 400th start after all - Hamilton was looking for a change in track conditions as he began to struggle on the Inters, his teammate similarly suffering.

Persistently telling his team that it was time to make the change to slicks, he was continually rebuffed until finally getting the all-clear and thereby becoming the first driver to pit.

However, even on the red-banded rubber Hamilton was struggling, while teammate Leclerc was given a post-race penalty following a collision with Liam Lawson, leaving the Maranello pair finishing 8th and 9th.

"I don't want to speak in details of technical stuff," said Fred Vasseur. "But for sure it's a lot about tyre temperature, and in certain phases of the race or certain conditions we are struggling more," he admitted.

"There was a huge gap between the beginning of the stint of Charles on softs and last couple of laps, when he was almost as fast as the guys with new tyres," he continued.

"But, as usual, when you have an issue with tyres, the effect or the impact is always much, much higher than the characteristic of the car, or the upgrade that you bring.

"You can bring an upgrade a weekend, but if you are not in the right spot with the tyres, you are nowhere because the magnitude of this is half a second, but most of the upgrades or the characteristic of the track is tenths.

"This weekend I think we were able to be on the pace on some occasions, and some occasions we were far away. Then there is another issue, starting from the back with the penalty, and the fact that we are still struggling in terms of top speed. When you have only one line dry, it's mega difficult, and we are stuck at the back."

Indeed, in terms of the impending penalties, Vasseur admits that his drivers were on the back foot before a wheel had turned.

"On Friday we knew that, and then when you have to take the penalty, the approach of the weekend is a bit different. Friday we struggled. Saturday was much better, both conditions, but I think it's an accumulation between the mix of the top speed issue, we had to put the tyres in temperature, and we are at the back, and we are struggling. And then we are trying to find a shortcut on the strategy, and so on."

Asked about Hamilton's persistence in demanding slicks, the Frenchman said: "If you have a look, Alonso was faster on the lap after with the Inter. I think we anticipated when we pitted Lewis, it was to be aggressive, and perhaps a bit too much."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Editor, 4 hours ago (moderated by an Adminstrator, 4 hours ago)

"@ flyinglap

But we didn't say which Todt!

Indeed, a Freudian slip.

By the way, it just goes to show where my mind is at when writing this stuff, I'm amazed I didn't name Russell Brand or Wil E Coyote."

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2. Posted by flyinglap, 4 hours ago (moderated by an Adminstrator, 4 hours ago)

"I am reading the headline "Todt blames tyres for Ferrari's Sao Paulo slump", and I am thinking that must have been a Freudian slip :) As if there were doubts about who is the actual overlord of the team principal position at Ferrari."

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3. Posted by Wokingchap, 4 hours ago

"Todt???"

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Vasseur blames tyres for Ferrari's Sao Paulo slump

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