Charles Leclerc fell victim to another bizarre tyre strategy by Ferrari in the Qualifying session of the 2022 Brazilian GP. During Q3, Leclerc was fitted with Intermediate tyres after Ferrari anticipated the incoming rain.
While all the remaining 9 cars opted for soft slicks to make the most of the wet-dry conditions. The rain did not come and Leclerc was the only car on the slower tyres.
Leclerc struggled to set a time and was forced to return for the soft tyres. But the call to pit came too late as he just passed the pit entry. He was forced to abort another lap while all the other drivers managed to set a timed lap on softs.
The disastrous tyre strategy by Ferrari Pitwall means the Monegasque will be starting 10th on the grid for the F1 Sprint. It seems like Ferrari manages to invent new ways to spoil races with ease!
Charles Leclerc suffers as Ferrari Blunders
Ferrari sent Charles Leclerc anticipating rain while the track was dry. And the Monegasque could barely hold onto his car. He even asked, “Do you want me to do the lap on inters? There’s absolutely no rain.”
But the call to pit for softs came late, as Leclerc had already passed the pit entry by then. Leclerc was left in confusion as he asked his engineer, “Did everybody complete a lap on the slicks?”
To which his engineer would reply with an affirmation, leaving Leclerc absolutely fuming on the radio. “Nice one! F****ing beautiful,” he sarcastically replied.
Leclerc struggled to set a time and the error would prove costly. Unfortunately, George Russell would bring out the red flags and the rain intensified after the session resumed.
Ferrari ultimately opted not to send him back out. Leaving Leclerc with nothing but a lowly 10th-place start.
Leclerc was “extremely disappointed” with Ferrari strategy
Charles Leclerc was gutted by the strategy that cost him a chance to secure pole. The Monegasque believes the car was working great and had the pace.
He stated, “There was a big opportunity for us today. We still have the car. But now we need to get on it and do everything good for the rest of the weekend.”
Ferrari’s Race Director Laurent Mekies later clarified that the team chose to send one of their drivers on Softs and one on Inters due to the tricky conditions. He added, “This qualifying was a lottery. We knew rain was imminent, so we split the strategies, which could have rewarded either Charles or Carlos.”
Leclerc confirmed that he agreed to mount the Inters while teammate Carlos Sainz was fitted with the soft. But unfortunately, the rain never came.
Leclerc has been troubled by numerous wrong strategy calls which ultimately affected his title hopes in 2022. But the driver feels the team must do better. “I will speak with the team and try and understand what we can do better in those conditions. But I’m extremely disappointed,” he said.
Also Read: Charles Leclerc can’t imagine a result worse than Mexican GP for Ferrari
