Leclerc felt he lost time on Ferrari’s strategy
Charles Leclerc believes his strategy did cost him time in Baku, but xpects Ferrari's intentions were good.
Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari’s strategy cost him time in Baku, but thinks there was a reason for their decision.
The team extended Leclerc’s first stint on the mediums – he was finally given the call to come in with 16 laps to go after both Mercedes and team-mate Sebastian Vettel had passed him.
After failing to find time on the fresh rubber like Ferrari had anticipated, Leclerc finished 69 seconds behind eventual winner Valtteri Bottas, but with the fastest lap in the bag after making a second stop.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Leclerc said: “I believe there is a reason for [staying out long]. I need to look at the data before commenting because they have a lot more data than I do in the car.
“I felt I lost a bit of time once Valtteri, Lewis and Seb passed me. We need to look into that.
“I asked is there any possibility for us to come back, they told me no. After that there was no more trying to push to catch them, but just to try and save the tyres and do the fastest lap when I had the opportunity.”
Once again where we didn't want to be. Great team effort in a hard race, also our guys did a super job. #Seb5 #Charles16 #SF90 #essereFerrari 🔴 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/M2rvuS62hd
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 28, 2019
The Monegasque driver would defend Ferrari after seemingly another strategy botch, saying that the errors of the race and the weekend in general were his fault.
“On the medium we were very, very strong and that’s what the leaders did their longest stint on,” he explained.
“It could have been a very positive race but to be honest there is nothing wrong with Ferrari, just myself yesterday.
“I did a mistake yesterday and will come back from it stronger.”
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