A sub-optimal choice
On lap 11 of the Australian GP, Isack Hadjar was left stranded by Red Bull due to an obvious engine problem. At that moment, Charles Leclerc was the race leader with a half-second lead over George Russell, about one and a half seconds over Lewis Hamilton, and two and a half seconds over Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Stewards therefore deployed the Virtual Safety Car and Mercedes was quick to call both drivers to the pits, unlike Ferrari. Both teams ultimately opted for a one-stop strategy, making the Mercedes move super effective, as it put Russell and Antonelli ahead of everyone without having to make overtakes.
For Ferrari, bad luck was added, because on lap 19 the second VSC deployed for the pit retirement did not allow the Reds to change tires, as the pitlane was closed because the Finn had parked right near its entrance.
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What did the Ferrari drivers say?
Already during the grand prix, Lewis Hamilton had seemed rather doubtful of the team’s choice. A thought later reiterated in the post-race: “We will analyze. Certainly our tires at the end of the GP were still good and we could have stopped earlier. It would have been a free pit stop. I think with the first VSC we should have pitted“, he explained to Dazn Spain.
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During the press conference reserved for the top 3, Charles Leclerc has no regrets: “I don’t regret it, ours was a deliberate and conscious choice. From FP1 to today there has always been at least one car that stopped in every session. We knew there would be high probabilities and that the first would not be the only VSC. So we thought it would be better for us to wait for another one. Obviously it’s always a gamble. Afterwards there was a VSC at a good time, but unfortunately the pitlane entrance was closed. We were a bit unlucky, but it was a conscious choice and I don’t regret it.”
Team principal Frederic Vasseur cut it short: “I don’t think anything would have changed“.
