Ferrari had some similarities to Mercedes in Sochi: after the rain there was an overall improvement than the situation before the changing conditions. Before the weather caused a dramatic turnaround at the Russian GP, the direct fight between Ferrari and McLaren was 19 to 36 points, while at the chequered flag the deficit was reduced to 15 / 19. Although one of the two drivers in both teams made the wrong decision and wanted to get through with slicks despite the rain.
On lap 46, everything pointed to a second McLaren win in a row. Lando Norris was leading Lewis Hamilton with the fastest lap in his backpack. Daniel Ricciardo was in 5th place on the way to a double-digit point result. At Ferrari things didn’t look so bright with seven laps to go. Carlos Sainz had fought his way back to 3rd place, but Charles Leclerc was caught in eighth place behind Max Verstappen in his double chase.
Charles Leclerc’s perseverance tactic didn’t work
When the first raindrops fell on lap 46, which then, contrary to the predictions, steadily increased in intensity, one driver each from Ferrari and McLaren reacted perfectly. Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo pitted on lap 48. Both had the feeling that there was already too much water on track and gave their pit walls appropriate information. In addition, the rain fell down more extensively than in the previous lap, in which only half the distance was affected.
It was the golden shot for Carlos Sainz and Ricciardo, although both fell behind Verstappen due to slips. It paid off in full just three laps later because there were too many hesitants in the field. The most extreme were Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, who fell into a vicious circle.
At first they didn’t want to reveal their good positions, then they realized that it was too late and tried to persevere with the courage of desperation. Which only made their situation worse. They had already wasted too much time and were both about to end up in the barriers. Front runner Norris fell to 8th place, fourth place Charles Leclerc to 15th place.
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The Monegasque driver was annoyed at the end: “I saw Carlos go in for Intermediates, but had my doubts whether he was right. In the end I was two laps too long on the track. At first it was still working, but when the rain kept going got stronger, Lando and I lost too much time. I should have given the team better information about the condition of the track, then we might have stopped earlier. I’ll take that as a lesson from this race. “
In this case, the Ferrari pit wall trusted the driver’s impressions more. Realization afterwards: “We should have brought him in together with Carlos. Even a double stop would have been better.”
Accident avoidance tactics from Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz had dreamed of at least a podium after twelve laps in the lead. Therefore, the Spaniard was a bit surprised that the team only predicted a top 5 result in the middle of the race. Because of the strong graining of the front tires he had to pit on lap 14, dropped back to eleventh place and was now in the middle of a DRS train from which there was initially no escape. “I was a bit disappointed with the prognosis, but of course the simulations had a better overview than I did.”
Carlos Sainz did not return to the podium until Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly had turned into the pits. On the hard tires, the Ferrari driver increased the lead over Ricciardo to five seconds. That gave confidence. Like Monza, Sochi was a McLaren circuit.
For the Spanish driver it was the third podium this year after Monaco and Hungary. The Ferrari newcomer was relieved at the end of the race: “That was my most complete weekend since I’ve been driving for Ferrari. Second on the grid, a good start, the leading laps, the right pit stop timing. Everything was just right. I was from the first practice session to the race weekend consistently strong and didn’t want to be the fastest in the free practice sessions. “
The Spaniard admitted that he still lacks 100 percent confidence in his car and that he has to work on himself in this regard: “The recent crahses did not happen without a reason. I’m actually not a driver that crashes. So this time I tried a more conservative approach and drove well with it.”
Hybrid upgrade a success
Team boss Mattia Binotto saw Sochi, like Monza, as damage limitation on tracks that played into the cards of rivals McLaren. Ferrari presented itself better than expected. The first use of the new hybrid system in Charles Leclerc’s car was also a success. “It brought us some lap time, worked reliably and delivered what we expected from it,” Mattia Binotto confirmed. Ferrari also was happy to see that Charles Leclerc could follow Verstappen for a long period of time.
But Mattia Binotto also made some criticism: “We didn’t work as we should in some other disciplines. For example, in tire management, the pit stops and the timing of Charles’ tire change at the end.” Once again, graining on front tires slowed the Ferrari drivers, especially Sainz in the first stint. On Charles Leclerc’s car the pit stops were not ideal, as the Monegasque driver lost a total of 3.1 seconds on his teammate in the pit lane.
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