F1 | Ferrari, same problems one year later: wrong calculations after race restart. In Mexico, Ferrari's decision on tyres was based on incorrect calculations.

The Mexican Grand Prix was an important weekend for the Scuderia, as they were chasing second place in the constructors’ standings. For this reason, after the restart following the red flag in Mexico City, Scuderia Ferrari decided on a more conservative strategy, fitting the hard tires on the SF-23 cars of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc for the second half of the Mexican GP. However, this decision was based on incorrect calculations.

What sparked discussion, though, were the words of the Monegasque driver’s race engineer. Xavier Marcos, in fact, explained to Charles Leclerc why they had chosen the hard tires after the pole-sitter of the Mexican GP expressed some reservations. “Starting with hard tires will be really tough,” were Charles Leclerc’s words.

“We expect that after five laps, the mediums will start to degrade,” was the response from the Spanish engineer. The degradation was not as expected, and as a result, Lewis Hamilton managed to defend his second position, crucial in terms of the constructors’ championship.

Observing the Mexican GP, it seemed like a replay of what happened at Silverstone last year. In that case, Ferrari’s strategy penalized a Charles Leclerc who was heavily in contention for victory in the British Grand Prix. This déjà vu highlights how, despite the transition from Mattia Binotto to Fred Vasseur, some of the issues that contributed to last year’s debacle continue to persist in the Scuderia’s garages. However, it should be noted that since the arrival of the former Alfa Romeo Team Principal, several organizational changes have begun to yield some results.

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Returning to what happened in Mexico, Lewis Hamilton’s remarkable performance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez should be emphasized. The seven-time world champion effectively managed the medium tires, unlike his teammate. George Russell, in fact, suffered tire degradation in the later stages of the race and finished in sixth place.

Source: f1ingenerale