Ferrari has defended the much-debated Charles Leclerc tyre strategy at the Turkish GP, saying that their data revealed pitting was the call to make.
Ferrari came under massive fire from fans for costing Leclerc a podium. The driver started the race from P3, but finished a place below. He was also in the lead at one point in the race, but a late pit stop halted his charge.
The Monegasque driver stayed out longer than usual, until Ferrari did a Turkish Mercedes and called him in to pit.
It was too little too late, and was a cause for annoyance for their fans after the team initially told him to stay out.
However, Ferrari defended the Leclerc tyre strategy, saying that their data showed that their decision was the right one.
As quoted by GP Fans, Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto, who missed the race, said, “We had the pit stop done on Carlos (Sainz), and we knew how much rubber was left on his tyres at that moment.
“And knowing that data we believed that we could have finished the race, in terms of being safe. So we knew that in terms of safety, all the conditions were there.
“Then it was a matter of performance, and as Charles said, at the time when we stayed out, the performance was still okay, but then the track changed so we had to come in.”
A story of what ifs
Although Leclerc insisted he had no regrets over what transpired at Istanbul Park, some part of him may rue the missed podium. It could have been for him had the team decided to call him in earlier.
However, the Ferrari driver backed his team and said that he was visibly struggling on the track before his pit stop.
“It would have been very difficult without stopping. The rear tyres were very difficult to handle in the last four laps before my pit stop,” Leclerc said.
“That’s why we did the pit stop. I struggled a lot with rear locking and that pushed me to do a few mistakes, so I don’t know (where I would have finished without a stop), but I don’t think (it would have been) better than where we finished with the pit stop.”
Read more: Sainz admits he is not fully comfortable at Ferrari – “Not 100% at home in the car”