Kimi Raikkonen achieved his best result of 2019 by finishing seventh at the French Grand Prix last weekend in Paul Ricard. Daniel Ricciardo took a place when the Renault driver was penalized after his tough battle on the final lap.
Up until that point, Alfa had not scored any points since the Azerbaijan GP at the end of April.
“It’s a great feeling for the team because you push hard even when you’re not on the points,” Vasseur told Autosport.
“It was a bit frustrating because sometimes the pace was there and we made mistakes. Being back is a great feeling and a good reward for a job well done.”
But Vasseur admitted that the team is not confident that they have solved the tire problems behind his earlier loss of form.
“Sometimes on Sunday evening you feel like you understand something, the next Friday you are nowhere,” he said.
“We have to stay calm, take it easy and have a good analysis.
“I’m not sure we have solved all the problems and questions we have had with the tires so far.
“Now there are some updates pending – a small and a large one in Silverstone for Austria, then a small one in Germany and a large one in Budapest.”
Vasseur was encouraged by Antonio Giovinazzi, who did the third quarter in France but struggled in the race as he was one of only two drivers to be stuck on the soft tires for the first stint after being out in the second quarter. He fell to 16th place.
“It was difficult to start with the soft and then it was out of order,” admitted Vasseur.
“But then we have to take into account the positive point that he was in the third quarter.
“Accelerating the pace takes time, but if he can do a good job in qualifying, the next step will be the rest.
“It was probably the worst situation to be P9 or P10 with the softs.
“It won’t always be like this, if he can be on the same tires as the others in the third quarter, it will be fine.”
