Frederic Vasseur is not regretting the strategy calls made in F1 Monaco GP, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz share their views.
It was a disappointing F1 Monaco GP for Ferrari, whose drivers netted just sixth and eighth place eventually. It seemed like a strategy issue as both Leclerc and Sainz were talking so on the radio, but Vasseur reckoned it wasn’t because of the calls that they made.
Initially, Sainz was chasing Alpine’s Esteban Ocon which included a bump moment. The strategy didn’t work for the Spaniard even with the Frenchman having a slow one in the pits. He pitted first and a lap later, Ferrari called their driver in.
They were on different tyres as Sainz started on the hard compound and seemingly pitted early. The call seemed a bit off as the Spaniard noted on the radio with the pace he had. “I think the first stint went pretty well for the team except that we were stuck behind Ocon,” said Vasseur to media.
“Carlos tried one or two times but it was a bit optimistic but we were still in a good position on track with decent pace and he lost a position during the first pit-stop because he extended the first stint. The rain came and we had to stop. We didn’t lose position to try to extend the stint and we were not expecting the track to be so wet and at one stage if we did not have to put on the wet we have finished on the podium”.
“But it was the gamble for us, the risk was not too high because we didn’t lose position. But it is like it is. We knew perfectly on the grid that if we want to achieve something we have to take risks. I’m not disappointed at all with the risks that we took. I have no regret on this,” summed up Vasseur.
When pressed further if Ferrari could have done something as Sainz noted on the radio, Vasseur felt at that stage, it was important to cover Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who was looking quick and that in hindsight, there is always the situation of what they could have done different in that situation.
“At one stage we had to cover the other ones on track to avoid losing position and it’s always easy to redo the race after 5:30 and say ‘okay, if you extend the stint then you can change the tyres when it’s raining’,” said Vasseur. “But we didn’t know at this stage, and we were in the situation to lose positions compared to our competitors”.
“It was same for Carlos, at one stage Carlos went to jump on the radio to say why we didn’t extend but we were in the situation to lose position to lose to Hamilton and you know that position on track is crucial in Monaco and you don’t want to lose position because even if you have better tyres at the end, even if you are in much better stage, you are behind, you are behind,” summed up Vassuer.
From the driver of point of view, Sainz reckoned the first pit stop was debatable still. “Maybe the timing of the first pit stop caught me a bit by surprise when I was on green or purple sectors on that in-lap,” he said. “But I had to manage my tyres a lot, I was ready to push and over-cut Ocon. We tried to do the over-cut, he was clearly ahead”.
“Then the second pit stop probably a bit due to frustration from the first, I tried to extend a bit more and see of the rain was stopping but we got it wrong and I lost a lot of time. I think Monaco first of all is a bit of a lottery and today was probably a bit of a lottery for everyone and I got the worst out of it”.
“The first pit stop is debatable as I said and I will go back and review because obviously I was very quick on that in lap and felt I had a lot more lap time to come in clean air and I had been doing all that management when told to pit left me frustrated. I should have not showed it on the radio first of all but is due to frustration but the second pit stop as I said before, it is a lottery and getting it right or wrong one lap too early, one lap too late,” summed up Sainz.
At the same time, Leclerc had to be content with how it was. “I think it was a choice and then you can always argue if it was the right choice or not,” he said. “Whenever there is the rain coming like this, there were quite a few cars on slick tyres, so the chances of a safety car are really really high and ideally don’t want to be the first one to bail because I just wanted to wait for a safety car that did not arrive so at the end we finished sixth and there was not any miracles. Some days are just like that.”
The Monegasque’s day was difficult after the mistake in qualifying when he impeding McLaren’s Lando Norris in the tunnel. Vasseur admitted to Ferrari’s mistake while explaining how difficult it was for anyone to move inside the tunnel.
“Somehow it is a mistake from our side, clearly because we were P3 and we started P6 and we have to take it as a mistake and to understand what we did wrong but it is also due to circumstances because it has happened anywhere on track except the tunnel it is ok,” said Vasseur. “In the tunnel, Charles was not able to see in the mirror where was Norris, and if you tell him after the tunnel he can see where is Norris, and avoid to be on the line2.
“Also the line under the tunnel is not very clear. But we made a mistake yesterday clearly and this cost us a lot because I think starting from P3 it could have been another race, but we have to learn from it. Honestly, I’m not looking trying to find an excuse or something like this, we have to review completely the situation,” summed up Vasseur.
The strategy of the Maranello outfit once more coming under scrutiny. Last year, it could be said to have caused them several other top finishes. Its been a quiet start so far and in Monaco, they lost to Aston Martin, Mercedes and Alpine in some way.
Here’s moment between Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2023-monaco-grand-prix-sainz-clips-ocon-after-trying-an-overtaking-move-at-the-chicane.1767145347716431696.html
Here’s Esteban Ocon on hit from Carlos Sainz
Here’s how F1 Monaco GP panned out