Sky Sports F1 were forced to apologise to their viewers ahead of qualifying on Saturday at the Italian Grand Prix, after Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur swore on live TV.
Being Ferrari’s home race, Vasseur was incredibly emotional ahead of qualifying, where all the Tifosi were anxiously waiting to see how Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz would perform in the session.
Vasseur was speaking to Sky Sports F1 about what it was like for the team at their home event, given the magnitude of it.
He admitted that it was “quite emotional” and that you “can feel the passion”, making it impossible to keep everybody calm.
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“It’s quite emotional,” Vasseur told Sky Sports F1.
“I tried all week to calm everybody down and say, “Guys, you can’t score more points in Monza than somewhere else’.
“But this is bulls***. When you arrive on Thursday morning at Monza with all the guys in red, you can feel it. You can feel the passion, the emotion. For us, we have to take it as a positive and get an extra push from this.”
Host Simon Lazenby was quick to apologise for Vasseur’s language.
“A quick apology for the language,” Lazenby said, whilst slightly smirking.
Vasseur would’ve likely said several more explicit words after qualifying, as Sainz claimed pole position at the ‘Temple of Speed’, resulting in an almighty roar from the Tifosi.
The Spaniard’s final lap in Q3 was enough to beat reigning World Champion Max Verstappen to pole by a miniscule 0.013s, whilst Leclerc was right behind in third.
It means Ferrari have an unbelievable chance to win their home race, something which would certainly make up for their errors and woes this season.
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Beating Verstappen to pole is one thing though, beating him to a victory is another.
Should either Ferrari driver win, they’d deny the Red Bull driver the record for the most consecutive wins in the history of the sport, a record he’d claim with victory on Sunday.
Ferrari’s pace has looked exceptional all weekend, with Sainz and Leclerc set to be cheered across all 53 laps.