Ferrari believe they made right strategy call in Baku: "Red Bull were wrong"

Ferrari believe they made right strategy call in Baku: “Red Bull were wrong”. Ferrari made right strategy call in Baku.

After the unfortunate start, Charles Leclerc was behind Sergio Perez and ahead of Max Verstappen in the very early stages of the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the streets of Baku. The Virtual Safety Car deployed for the retirement of Carlos Sainz, provided the Ferrari wall with the possibility of making an early pit stop on Charles Leclerc’s single-seater, to mount the Hard tire instead of the medium ones which were used from start of the grand prix.

The move by the Maranello team was not replicated by Red Bull, probably for fear of not being able to complete the race with the hardest compound in the range, given that there were 41 laps until the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix still to be completed. Subsequently, both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen made the pit stop and returned to the track behind Charles Leclerc by over ten seconds, on Hard tires, but respectively seven and nine laps newer. The retirement of the Monegasque driver then brought down the curtain on what could have been a very interesting battle in the second half of the race, therefore removing the possibility of verifying if the strategy chosen by the Maranello team was the right one or whether Red Bull would have taken advantage of the fresher tyres in the final laps of the Baku race.

In an interview with Sky Italia after the race, Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto analyzed the choice made by the Red Bull strategist and believes that Ferrari made in fact the right call:

“At the beginning of the race on medium tires we were on a similar pace as Red Bull. At that moment Charles was recovering slightly on Sergio Perez, while Carlos was saving his tires, with the aim of extending his stint. We knew the Hard tyres were going to be very resilient and we were confident that we would go all the way to the end with a single stop. We made a different choice than Red Bull, but in fact they were wrong. It was right to stop at that moment. We got it right and others didn’t. The move would have given us an advantage, it’s a pity it didn’t materialize.” – Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto concluded.