Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur has defended the strategic decision that ultimately cost the Scuderia a one-two finish at the British Grand Prix, insisting he would make exactly the same call again.
A lost one-two finish and three valuable championship points
After Max Verstappen’s late-race accident during the British Grand Prix, the stewards deployed the Safety Car. At that moment, Ferrari was comfortably leading the race with Charles Leclerc ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while George Russell‘s Mercedes was running in third place.
Vasseur’s pit wall was suddenly faced with a far from straightforward strategic dilemma: whether to bring Hamilton into the pits, knowing that George Russell could choose to stay out and do the opposite.
Ferrari and Hamilton undone by the Safety Car
The Safety Car was deployed on lap 48 of the 52-lap race. Ferrari called Hamilton into the pits for fresh tyres, while Russell stayed out on track. However, the Safety Car remained on circuit until the chequered flag, meaning Ferrari’s strategic gamble never had the opportunity to pay off.
Charles Leclerc went on to win the race ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. As a result, Ferrari’s hopes of securing a memorable one-two finish at Silverstone disappeared, while the seven-time world champion also lost three valuable championship points.
Speaking during his traditional media session after the British Grand Prix weekend, Frédéric Vasseur firmly defended the team’s decision.
“We expected the race to restart immediately, and we were surprised that the Safety Car stayed out for so long. In any case, if we hadn’t pitted, Russell would have. He would have had fresh tyres while we would have been on used hard tyres, and we would have risked losing the race. So if I had to make that decision again now, I would do it again in a second,” the French team principal said at the end of the Silverstone round.
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