The Italian media has reacted to Scuderia Ferrari’s most recent strategical error: in the qualifying session for the 2022 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, the Maranello team sent the Monegasque driver out on intermediate tyres while the Interlagos track was still dry, preventing him for being able to fight for pole position, As a result, Charles Leclerc will have to start today’s Brazil Sprint race from tenth place in Sao Paulo.
Italian national sports newspaper based in Rome, Corriere dello Sport, defended Charles Leclerc, accusing Scuderia Ferrari for being indecisive when evaluating the track conditions and making the switch during the changeable conditions.
“It was chaos again, especially at Ferrari,” the publication writes. “It started with the mechanics in Q1 not knowing what tyres to put under Charles Leclerc’s car. A decision had to be made: intermediates? Used softs, new softs? It ended up being the last one, but we saw a whirlwind on several tyres. When there was also a red flag for Russell’s mistake, poor Leclerc had no chance at all. He came back into the pits with his head bowed. He still stood before the press, but you could clearly see that he was desperate.” – Corriere dello Sport added.
On the other hand, Italian daily newspaper published in Milan, Corriere della Sera, had a different view of the events which took place at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, claiming, just like 1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill, that Charles Leclerc should in fact take some of the blame for the indecision and pointed out to how rival Max Verstappen is able to manage such moments:
“But it was also a mistake by Charles Leclerc. He does not know how to keep a cool head during critical situations,” they wrote – “On that front row we see Max Verstappen again, who does manage to stay in his own bubble in critical situations.”
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Italy’s largest sports newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports, the Gazzetta dello Sport, feels the Maranello team were not fast enough in informing Charles Leclerc to return to the pits and change the intermediate tyres with slicks at the start of Q3 before the red flag which was shown as a result of George Russell’s incident.
“A bitter day for Leclerc,” reads the publication. “He was the only one on intermediates, which made his first lap far from interesting. Then he was told to come in. “Nice one,” was the Monegasque’s answer.”
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