Ferrari ignored Leclerc’s tactical plea in the closing stages of the race, again raising questions about the Scuderia’s strategic decisions.
Ferrari’s strategic problems were once again reflected in the confusion on team radio at the Spanish Grand Prix. The race at Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya was tactical as high tire degradation pushed for a two-stop strategy as opposed to the now-traditional one-stop races seen in the opening six races of the season.
Charles Leclerc started from the pit lane after changes were made to his Ferrari following a woeful qualifying in which the Monaco native could only manage 19th. Starting on the hard compound, Leclerc was unable to push through in the style we are used to seeing from top four F1 teams, leading to an early stop.
But it was the switch from soft to hard tires later in the race that saw Leclerc’s race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros apparently ignore his driver’s calls for another set of soft tyres.
“This lap for the pits and for hard tyres,” said Padros with 23 laps to go.
Leclerc replied, “No, no, guys, we’re going soft.” To his challenge, the engineer replied, “Understood.”
After a moment of silence, Leclerc asked to “pit anyway”, with Ferrari ignoring his earlier request.
Padros added: “Yes, boxing, boxing now. We’re going hard.”
The swap does nothing to help Ferrari’s image of strategic fumbles after a tumultuous last year where more contested for grand prix wins.
Leclerc would finish 12th at the end of the race, moving up to 11th thanks to a penalty for Team AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
