Maurizio Arrivabene slams Ferrari’s Monaco pit stop call: “I would never have made that decision”. Maurizio Arrivabene reacts to Charles Leclerc’s Monaco pit stop frustration.

Charles Leclerc was forced to wait while Lewis Hamilton served his penalty during a pit stop at the Monaco Grand Prix, and former Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene admitted that the moment immediately caught his attention. Reflecting on the incident, Arrivabene said his first thought was how the Monegasque driver would react to such a frustrating situation.

Before crashing into the barriers and retiring from the race, Charles Leclerc had been called into the pits during the Safety Car period. Once there, he was forced to wait while Lewis Hamilton completed the five-second penalty he had received for exceeding the pit lane speed limit. According to Arrivabene, it was the kind of episode that could easily have pushed a driver’s emotions to the limit.

After Lance Stroll hit the barriers and brought out the Safety Car, all drivers headed into the pit lane for fresh tyres. During the neutralisation, Charles Leclerc made it clear over team radio that he would have preferred to stay out on track. His frustration only increased when he arrived at the Ferrari pit box and had to wait while Lewis Hamilton served his penalty before his own stop could begin.

The tension surrounding the situation certainly did not help Charles Leclerc’s race. Following the restart, he crashed at the same corner where Lance Stroll had gone off earlier. However, the Ferrari driver later explained that a braking system malfunction had left him with virtually no control over the car.

Arrivabene questions the decision

Speaking during Race Anatomy, Maurizio Arrivabene offered a candid assessment of the controversial moment.

“Looking at it from the outside, and having done that job myself, the moment I saw that situation I thought: ‘Now Charles is going to get out of the car and throw away the steering wheel.’ He did well to remain calm. Later he made his feelings clear on the radio, but I would never have made a decision like that. You simply do not do that,” Maurizio Arrivabene said.

The final part of his comment was widely interpreted as a subtle criticism of Ferrari team principal Fréd Vasseur. After Charles Leclerc retired from the race, television cameras captured him in what appeared to be an animated discussion with Fréd Vasseur and deputy team principal Jerome d’Ambrosio inside the Ferrari garage.

Despite the speculation, the 28-year-old later insisted there had been no disagreement within the team and explained that the discussion focused entirely on understanding the brake issue that had caused his retirement.

“There was no argument. Fred and Jerome immediately looked at the telemetry and everything is perfectly clear to everyone. There are no doubts about the nature of the problem. I also do not want people to create a story about me being stuck behind Lewis during his pit stop. That should not be the story of the day. The absolute priority is simply to implement the brake solution that I will have on my car from next weekend so that I can get back to doing my job properly,” Charles Leclerc said.

According to reports, the Ferrari driver is expected to switch to Carbon Industrie brake discs from the Spanish Grand Prix onward. The same solution has already been used by Lewis Hamilton in recent races and could help Charles Leclerc regain the confidence and consistency under braking that he has been missing in recent weekends.