Italian journalist criticizes Ferrari for “lack of courage” in Belgian GP amid Mercedes strategy. Umberto Zapelloni commented on race strategy in Belgium, criticizing Ferrari.

Italian journalist Umberto Zapelloni, the former Sports and Motor Editor of the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, recently commented on the TV show Race Anatomy about George Russell and Mercedes’ winning strategy in the Belgian Grand Prix, criticizing Ferrari. The British driver took the initiative of finishing the Belgian Grand Prix at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps with only one pit stop, a strategy that on track proved to be extremely ingenious and one that was backed by the Mercedes pitwall. However, George Russell faced disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix after his W15 single-seater was found to be significantly under the minimum weight limit. Post-race inspections revealed that George Russell’s car was 1.5kg lighter than required, costing him the victory and promoting his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, to first place, while at the same time giving a podium finish to Charles Leclerc for Ferrari.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director, later explained that several factors contributed to the car’s weight discrepancy. These included the wear and tear on the tyres, the underfloor ‘plank’, and even George Russell’s own weight loss during the race.

Umberto Zapelloni’s comments

Here are the journalist’s statements: “George Russell was skilled and courageous. He asked the team not to change the tires, and they listened to him, something that didn’t happen with Ferrari.” – he pointed out – “Carlos Sainz had a similar intuition, but the team didn’t listen to him. Therefore, Russell and Mercedes’ courage allowed them to interpret the race in the best possible way. Ferrari didn’t have the courage to do the same with Carlos Sainz, even though he was also out of the game. They could have taken a risk with him, just as Mercedes did with George Russell,” Umberto Zapelloni concluded.

Indeed, the Italian analyst’s assessment is for the most part correct: Carlos Sainz followed the Mercedes driver throughout the first stint, despite having the white tires (less performant than George Russell’s yellow ones).

In short, the Maranello team’s pitwall could have taken the risk but didn’t. In hindsight, it’s easy to say that it would have been – most likely – the right choice, but apparently, Ferrari preferred to play it safe, settling for a sixth place finish for Carlos Sainz at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.