Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur was pleased with his team’s strategy at the Monaco Grand Prix, despite concerns raised by their drivers afterwards.
One sec Charles Leclerc started sixth and finished there, Carlos Sainz Jnr dropped from fourth to eighth on the checkered flag.
After the race, Leclerc said the team had paid the price of waiting a lap longer than several rivals for the pit for the intermediate tyres. He said they risked the possibility of putting in a safety car, which would have allowed them to lose less pit time.
Sainz questioned the team’s calls during the race, complaining that he was brought in too early. After the race, he said Ferrari “needed to review” the calls it had made. “I don’t know what it looked like from the outside. From the inside it looked like we could have done differently, but now it’s easy to say.
Ferrari tried to get Alpine to pit early by calling in Sainz and then canceling the instruction. They eventually brought him in after Ocon, but failed to overtake him.
“Maybe the moment of the first pit stop surprised me a bit when I was in the green or purple sector this lap,” said Sainz. “But I had to manage my tires a lot, I was ready to push and overtake Ocon. We tried to over-cut, he was clearly ahead.
“Then the second pit stop, probably a bit of frustration from the first one, I tried to stretch a bit more and saw that the rain had stopped but we did it wrong and lost a lot of time.”
announcement | Become a supporter of RaceFans and
However, Vasseur said the team made the right decisions, including the decision to switch both drivers to medium compound tires after starting on the hard. He said they had to react to the threat from the drivers behind who had pitted.
“On one stage we had to beat others on the track to avoid losing positions,” Vasseur told the media, including RaceFans. “It’s always easy to start the race after 5:30 and say, ‘If you’ve extended the stint, you can change tires when it’s raining.’ But we didn’t know that at that stage and we were in a situation where we could lose ground compared to our competitors.
“It’s the same with Carlos – at one point Carlos jumped on the radio to say ‘why didn’t we extend? But we were in a situation where we could have lost a position with Hamilton and you know track position is crucial in Monaco.
“You don’t want to lose a position because even if you have better tires at the end, even if you’re in much better shape, if you’re behind, you’re behind.”
Sainz spent most of the first stint behind Ocon, making contact with Alpin at one point, and was unable to overtake his rival when he made his first pit stop.
“I think the first stint went pretty well for the team, except we were stuck behind Ocon,” said Vasseur. “Carlos tried once or twice, but clearly it was a bit optimistic. But I think we were in a good position on the track and had decent pace. “
announcement | Become a supporter of RaceFans and
Drivers e.g George Russell he benefited by waiting for the rain to come and then not delaying the pit stop. Vasseur admitted that the extra lap his drivers stayed away had worsened their performance, but said the risk was worth taking.
“We lost Russell’s position during the pit stop because he extended the first stint and when he had to stop it was raining. And we didn’t lose a position (trying to) extend the run and we expected the track not to be so wet.
“Then in one stage, if we (didn’t have to) put on a wet tire (putting on a tyre), we could have finished on the podium. But it was a gamble for us. The risk wasn’t too great because we didn’t lose positions.
“But it is what it is. We knew from the start that if we wanted to achieve something, we had to take risks. And I’m not at all disappointed with the risks we’re taking.”
Delivery of F1 news from the source
RaceFans strives to provide its readers with news directly from key Formula 1 players. We are able to do this in part thanks to the generous support of our RaceFans supporters.
By donating £1 per month or £12 per year (or currency equivalent), you can help cover the costs of creating original journalism: travel, writing, creation, hosting, contact and development.
Our readers have proudly supported us for over 10 years. If you like our independent relationship, consider becoming a RaceFans supporter today. As a bonus, all our backers can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or learn more using the links below:
announcement | Become a supporter of RaceFans and
