Charles Leclerc was of the opinion that Ferrari’s last pitstop call at the Dutch Grand Prix was rather ill-timed, but the team’s principal, Frederic Vasseur, albeit respectful of his driver’s viewpoint, disagrees.
Having qualified P6, after making a better start than George Russell, Leclerc took P5 and set on the charge behind Isack Hadjar and his slippery Racing Bulls car.
After being the first of the frontrunners to dive into the pits at the end of lap 22, Leclerc missed the opportunity of taking advantage of his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s crash.
Later on in the race, as the window for the second pitstop opened, Leclerc and Antonelli were jostling for position. The Italian was called into the pits by Mercedes in a bid to undercut the Monegasque on lap 52.
Ferrari then made the call to bring Leclerc in on lap 53, a decision Leclerc did not agree with.
Vasseur: "It’s always easy to have a different view after the race"
When confronted with Leclerc’s post-race displeasure, Vasseur reacted to his driver’s statements to media including GPblog.
Did he see the point behind Leclerc’s complaints? “Yes and no,” began Vasseur.
“It’s always easy to have a different view on the strategy after the race, [but] honestly, that was the only way we had to fight with Hadjar at this stage, to have a different option or at least to try to undercut.”
"For sure, when you see the outlap..."
When Leclerc emerged from the pits, a hard-charging Antonelli dove down the inside of Leclerc using the higher grip available in his already warm soft compound tyres.
However, a miscalculation in the move saw the Italian collect the Monegasque and put him in the wall on the outside of Turn 3, effectively ending his race, which Vasseur believes skews perception on the outcome of the Ferrari pitwall’s strategic decision.
“I think it was the right call at this stage, but now for sure, when you see the outlap, you can have a different perception of this,” the Frenchman concluded.
Ferrari now travels to Italy, where they will seek to bounce back from their unfruitful Dutch Grand Prix.
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