It was a disappointing French Grand Prix for Ferrari. The team returned to Maranello with only the points brought home by Carlos Sainz, fifth at the finish line and author of the fastest lap, and the bitterness for a retirement of Charles Leclerc which made the hopes of the world title even more feeble.
In addition to the disappointment for the Monegasque’s zero in the standings, Ferrari ended up in the crosshairs of critics for the strategy adopted with Carlos Sainz jr.
The Spaniard, who started from the back of the grid after adopting power unit number 4, was the protagonist of a good comeback, also facilitated by the safety car entering the track. A long stop, topped off by an unsafe release costing a 5 ” penalty, however, further complicated Sainz’s race.
When Carlos had managed to overtake both Russell and Perez, and thus claw third place, the team recalled the Spaniard to the pit lane for a second pit that plunged the Madrilenian into fifth place.
Having dispelled the disappointment for another trip that ended with a result below expectations, Inaki Rueda explained why the team imposed the second stop on Sainz.
“We expected to return from France with a good result, but unfortunately we took home a retirement and a fifth place”.
“After the safety car we were the only car on medium compound, while all our rivals had hard tires. We therefore had an advantage over our rivals and we would have had it for the first 20 laps, in which the medium tire would have been more efficient, but we would have struggled to get to the end. Furthermore, the hard tire riders would have been faster than us in the final phase of the stint. “
“The expected duration for the tires was 25 laps while the stint after the SC required 35, so we would have missed 10 laps. In these cases, when a driver exceeds the tire life expectancy, he has to take care of the tire and drive very slowly. Otherwise there is a risk of tire failure. “
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
Rueda then underlined how the 5 second penalty inflicted on Sainz for unsafe release influenced the final result.
“The penalty of 5″ changed our approach to the last stint because even if Carlos had managed to overtake Russell and Perez, he would never have made it to open a gap of 5 seconds having to manage the medium tires until the end of the race. competition”.
“Aware of this situation we decided to stop Carlos and make sure he got back on track to get the point of the fastest lap.”
Rueda also wanted to clarify the radio team broadcast live on TV just when Sainz found himself in full battle with Perez.
“We must remember that the radio teams broadcast on TV always have a delay compared to what happens on the track. Carlos and Perez were dueling on lap 41. We saw that Carlos couldn’t overtake Checo on the opposite straight and in turn 10 we decided to call him to the pit ”.
“Obviously he was fighting with Perez and thought he had to return on the next lap, which is why he answered like this on the radio. Following the race on TV, the radio message was broadcast near turn 15, right after the entrance to the pit lane, and such a late call would have made no sense ”.
Accident of Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, in Le Beausset
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
The strategy manager of the Maranello team then analyzed Charles Leclerc’s race and explained why the wall decided not to copy Max Verstappen’s choice to bring forward the first stop.
“Charles did an exceptional job of keeping Verstappen behind him during the first stint, and Max brought the stop forward a lot.”
“We thought that in this case Charles could ignore what Max did and concentrate on his own race. Unfortunately he was forced to retire, but we are confident that if it had gone another way he could have delayed the stop for 5 or 6 laps and then have the pace to get back on the heels of Verstappen and overtake him for the victory ”.
#Ferrari #Rueda #explains #Sainzs #pit #France