Vasser: Our plan was about 50 percent successful.

      Ferrari hadn't scored that many points for a long time as it did after the United States Grand Prix, and it wasn't only because Charles Leclerc climbed onto the podium in Austin and Lewis Hamilton finished right behind his teammate. The weekend at the Texas circuit, Circuit of the Americas, included a sprint, and in Saturday's sprint the Scuderia drivers finished 4th and 5th — only then had Lewis beaten Charles.

      But at the start of the weekend the Italian team had difficulties, and nothing promised a spectacular follow-up; however, by Sunday Ferrari had dealt with them, and for a large part of the race Leclerc ran in second place, successfully fending off numerous attacks from Lando Norris. The McLaren driver was able to overtake him only five laps from the finish.

      "To be honest, we tried to optimise everything, but the main focus was on tyre work," commented Frederic Vasseur after the race. "If you can't keep the tyres in the right temperature window, you can lose up to half a second or even more per lap.

      "I'm proud of our team — we recovered well from the difficulties we faced on Friday, and on Sunday we showed both pace and consistency.

      "We had to be aggressive in our tactical choices. The idea was for Charles to get into the lead straight away, and that worked about 50%. We wanted him to break through to first position, but we ended up second. Still, that was a positive point (related to the fact that Leclerc started on soft tyres).

      "I don't have a magic crystal; I don't know how things might otherwise have unfolded, but overtaking at the start isn't that easy. Then the task was to look after the tyres and make a fairly early pit stop. Our plan worked half-way, but we weren't that far off second place.

      "Charles managed the tyres perfectly, repelling Norris's attacks after the start while showing both aggression and consistency. Importantly, this result will give him confidence in his abilities.

      "As for what lies ahead, we understand it well, even if it's not always clear to some journalists. Sometimes certain kinds of rumours become a distraction — it's not easy to keep calm in those circumstances.

      "However, Ferrari chairman John Elkann made a clear statement, and we are focused on fulfilling the task set for the team: we want to finish second in the Constructors' Championship. Today's result was a good conclusion to the weekend for both the team and Charles. It will give everyone extra motivation ahead of the remaining races."