British former racing driver Damon Hill, who won the Formula 1 title almost three decades ago (in 1996), feels that Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc should be “more forceful”. The ex-Formula 1 man gives Fernando Alonso and George Russell as an example when it comes to team radio messages and race strategy during a Grand Prix.
Scuderia Ferrari lost at least three race wins with Charles Leclerc due to questionable strategy decisions during the previous Formula 1 championship, as was the case on the streets of Monte Carlo and at the Hungaroring circuit, when poor pit stop timing and tyre choices cost the Monegasque driver not only the race win but even a place on the podium.
The Italian side has made important organizational changes ahead of the current F1 campaign, once Fred Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto at the top of the Ferrari Racing Department, with the key goal of improving the flow of communication between engineers at decisive moments of the race weekend.
However, the 1996 Formula One world champion believes Charles Leclerc has to also become more involved and tell the Maranello team how to approach the race strategy when behind the wheel, as Ferrari’s calls have often not been the best even in this start of the 2023 season.
“When you’ve got races where teams choose to put drivers with different strategies, that can always be immensely frustrating to drivers – particularly if they’re in the latter stages of a championship,” Damon Hill explained in his recent interview for the F1 Nation podcast – “Because a team might say something, which is detrimental, and this is what happened with Charles Leclerc. He was not given preference, the wrong strategy, or the strategy that benefited and covered the team from a competitive point of view – but put him at a disadvantage to his teammate. Because you have this contradiction in our sport where you have two championships going at the same time and the teams run everything.” – the former Williams driver added.
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Damon Hill himself has a notable history of trying to influence team decisions. We remember how in the 1998 Belgium Grand Prix he negotiated with his team boss to prevent his Jordan teammate Ralf Schumacher from attempting to overtake him as the two drivers unexpectedly found themselves on the top two positions in the final part of the race at Spa-Francorchamps.
He feels drivers have the opportunity to shift calls during the race, pinpointing the team radio messages of Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen that “direct to the team.”
“The drivers have very little control and this is why Max [Verstappen] is so forceful, and I’ve heard a similar thing about George Russell. He is very forceful, and you might even say Carlos Sainz at Ferrari – they direct to the team. [Drivers like] Fernando Alonso, they direct the team from the cockpit and they can swing it. If a team is not bothered either way, then it is possible to get what you want for your strategy for a particular race, but you have to think quickly.” – Damon Hill concluded.
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