While the gaps had stabilized after two thirds of the Grand Prix covered, an accident between Pierre Gasly et Lando Norris at the end of the race caused the exit of the safety car. A dream opportunity for Ferrari in order to close the gap with the race leader, Max Verstappen, and attempt an attack to seek victory. Especially since between the transition between a virtual and real safety car, the Dutchman had passed the pit entrance, but not the red cars.
The door was therefore open for one of the two Scuderia drivers to dive into the pits, which would have given him (or them) an advantage for the remaining ten laps. But to everyone’s surprise, Charles Leclerc et Carlos Sainz stayed on the track and kept their worn hard rubbers.
Christian Horner, director of Red Bull Racingwas the first surprised by this decision. “Ferrari slowed down slightly when the virtual safety car switched to a classic safety car. Max had already passed the pit entrance, while Ferrari could have had a free stop. They didn’t catch him with any of their cars. We are grateful for that, because I think if they had put soft tires we would have finished third today.”
However, Ferrari explains that the situation was not so simple. At this stage of the race, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were limited in their strategic possibilities, since neither of the two drivers had new sets of soft or medium tyres. The duo should therefore have put on new hard rubber, something that Mattia Binotto, boss of the Scuderia, did not want.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
“We thought that in terms of warming up, a used tire would have performed better than a new tire”shares the Italian. “We would have had more problems warming up with a hard new tyre, which was the one we had available in the garage. So we decided to stay on track because we thought that was the best chance. for us to have a good warm-up and attack in the early laps, which happened. I think the best opportunity for Charles was on the first lap after the safety car, and he was certainly close at that stadium. And for Carlos too, [ça l’a aidé] to defend against Checo [Pérez] who was on new mediums.”
Sainz himself supports Ferrari’s decision not to stop, even though he had to fight to keep Sergio Pérez behind him. “I knew that Checo was going to stop because it had a train of new mediums”explains the Spaniard. “Our alternative was either a worn soft or a hard nine, and for me both weren’t good enough for 10 or 12 laps. I think it was the right decision, because in the end we got managed to keep him behind us. But it was close, he had everything, all the cards to overtake me. I’m a little surprised that we stayed ahead because it was a close, very close battle.”
