Can fourth and sixth place at the Imola chequered flag leave Ferrari smiling? At first glance, the question might seem strange, considering the prestige of the Prancing Horse and, more importantly, the expectations that surrounded the season’s start.
However, in a weekend that seemed doomed by Saturday’s disappointing qualifying, Lewis Hamilton’s near-podium and Charles Leclerc’s comeback — more unfortunate than the final sixth place suggests — partly softened the blow, even while confirming that the path to the top remains long.
That said, Ferrari showed a solid response in the race. Not so much in terms of outright pace or the typical Saturday-to-Sunday tyre management improvement, but more so strategically and in seizing opportunities. After a disappointing qualifying, it was clear from the start that bold moves were needed to try for a recovery. And that is what happened. Ferrari correctly diversified strategies to cover more scenarios. If the Briton’s race followed a more linear approach, his Maranello teammate’s highlighted excellent strategic insight from the Ferrari pit wall, which has made significant progress in this area over the past year.
With little to lose, the choice to pit early to put rivals under pressure proved effective, capitalising on George Russell’s struggles with tyre management. Charles Leclerc undercut no fewer than four cars, including the Williams of Carlos Sainz, which would have been hard to overtake on track.
The early arrival of the Virtual Safety Car and later the Safety Car certainly did not help the Monegasque. Yet a doubt remains: would it really have made sense for Charles Leclerc to fit soft tyres and end the race on the attack, as he wanted? It is a valid question, and one Ferrari was prepared to answer.
The idea to switch to softs was initially the Monegasque’s. Even before Kimi Antonelli’s retirement, he had already radioed in saying his tyres were at the limit. In a low-grip phase after the restart, it was understandable why he was pushing for a stop.
However, when it came time to decide, there was some confusion, including in communications. In the end, Charles Leclerc chose to stay out on the hards, fearing he would be stuck behind his teammate, who had just pitted — and lose further positions. “I don’t want to end up stuck behind him and lose even more spots,” he said over the radio.
That fear was understandable, though it deserves scrutiny: Isack Hadjar, for instance, would not have been a factor, since he had a five-second gap even before the virtual safety car. While he might have lost something trying to stay clear of Lewis Hamilton, realistically there would’ve been no real issue with Isack Hadjar.
The bigger risk, aside from a pit stop issue, was something Charles Leclerc couldn’t have known — the possibility of rejoining behind Carlos Sainz, who would not stop due to having no fresh tyres. Ferrari was ready to comply with Charles Leclerc’s request to switch to softs, but it was the driver himself who changed his mind at the last second, caught off guard by Lewis Hamilton’s stop.
Here lies an interesting detail: over the radio, Charles Leclerc was told his teammate wouldn’t pit, but in fact, the Briton had never said that. On the contrary, he had noted there were still several laps left to run on those tyres. Internally, the only discussion was about how many positions he might lose — a standard consideration in such scenarios.
In truth, it was fairly obvious that Lewis Hamilton would pit, as he had a fresh set of hards available — unlike those on a two-stop strategy. But lacking the correct information, Charles Leclerc was surprised and decided to stay out, despite the box giving the go-ahead.
When the Safety Car came out, 17 laps remained. No one expected such a long neutralisation, especially with so few lapped cars to let through. But there’s another question to ask: what would the real goal have been with the softs? Leclerc would’ve ended up behind Albon, who had fresh hards, and also behind Hamilton.
He also would’ve needed to pass George Russell, who, like Charles Leclerc, had no fresh tyres and would’ve stayed out, not to mention the risk of rejoining behind Carlos Sainz. Staying out elevated Leclerc to fourth; pitting would have dropped him to at least seventh, maybe eighth, meaning he’d have had to overtake three cars — including his teammate — just to get back to the same position.
Of course, he would’ve had more grip after the restart, but the C6 compound had already shown high overheating on a single lap. The only way to manage that would’ve been to cool it down for a few laps, which is impossible in race conditions, where thermal degradation would have kicked in after just a few laps, even in clean air.
With multiple cars to overtake and track temperatures above 40°C, Charles Leclerc might have delivered some early excitement but maintaining pace until the flag would have been anything but easy. In reality, considering the situation, staying out on the used hard tyres turned out to be the more convenient and effective choice.
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