Strategy analysis: reasons behind Charles Leclerc's slow pit stop at Zandvoort

This morning, we expected to witness a race affected by variable weather conditions. The forecasts proved right, giving us an action-packed Dutch GP with drivers having the chance to use both dry and wet tires. The race began on slicks, but the weather forced teams to call their drivers to the pit lane after just a few corners to change tires and switch to Intermediates. Unexpected twists were not in short supply. Let’s try to relive the highlights, focusing on the performances and decisions that stood out during the event.

Applause for Albon
First of all, congratulations to Albon and Williams for their incredible performance today. Alexander, Piastri, Hulkenberg, and Bottas were the only ones to continue the race on slick tires while all others switched to Intermediates between the first and fourth laps. Albon, however, stood out even more. He believed in the Soft compound and even when his rivals opted for new dry tires, the Thai driver stuck to the set he started the race with. He only changed them on the 40th lap to switch to Mediums, a well-timed choice that was leading him to a sixth-place finish (he also made a great overtake on Russell during lap 56). Unfortunately, the rain in the final stages reshuffled everything. Eighth place is not bad, and the driver achieved another significant result for Williams, but finishing ahead of the Mercedes cars would have been something else.

Alonso’s Mastery
For Fernando Alonso, we’ve exhausted all possible adjectives. Simply majestic. Despite rejoining the race a lap behind Perez at the start to switch to Intermediates, the two-time Asturian champion set a very competitive pace, especially on Soft tires. His pace was so strong that he secured the fastest lap of the race and pressured Checo into an error just before the red flag caused by Zhou. Thanks to the rain in the final moments, Alonso managed to halve the gap to Perez in just a few laps, making him the second-placed driver. He defended that position even after the red flag restart.

Two Mistakes Too Many Ruin Perez’s Good Race
Perez’s race ended off the podium. After taking the lead thanks to the ingenious call to pit first and switch to Intermediates at the start, Red Bull restored the hierarchy between Max Verstappen and the Mexican, avoiding interference through the second pit stops. Perez’s driving mistake just before the red flag only cost him a position to Alonso, but during the restart, Checo failed to respect the pit lane speed limit and received a 5-second penalty. Another mistake that led to losing the podium to Gasly. It’s a shame to have thrown away a well-deserved podium until just 15 laps from the finish (he started 7th).

Gasly’s Masterpiece
Now let’s talk about Pierre Gasly. His race was also impeccable. Similar to Checo, Pierre chose to pit on the first lap to switch to the green-banded tires. This move turned out to be the winning move of the race. Thanks to this maneuver, Pierre jumped from 14th place to 4th as soon as the first pit stop shuffle was done. From there on, copying the tactics of the drivers around him, he managed to protect his position and take advantage of Perez’s late error to secure an unexpected podium.

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Identifying the Culprit of Charles Leclerc’s Slow Pit Stop
Guess who wasn’t able to capitalize on their driver’s brilliant intuition? Charles Leclerc, like Perez and Gasly, correctly anticipated the rain and decided to pit for Intermediates as soon as it started to fall. Unfortunately, his race engineer, Xavi Marcos, had a serious lapse in attention (a video documenting the incident is circulating on Twitter). When Charles opened the radio saying he would come to the pit lane, the Spaniard didn’t understand the message and instead of alerting the mechanics, he began providing the driver with weather data. The Monegasque repeated the message, but it was too late, and when Charles arrived in the pit lane, the wet tires weren’t ready near his crew.

Nonetheless, this mistake didn’t have serious consequences on Charles’s race since his race was marred by a collision during the 4th lap, damaging his front wing and subsequently his floor, leading to his retirement on the 42nd lap. Certainly not his best day. To be fair, his second pit stop also happened later than the competition, but in this case, there isn’t much to criticize about Ferrari’s choice. The more daring drivers switched back to Softs on the 9th lap. The Italian team realized that was the right move and had to make a choice: call in Sainz or Leclerc first? It’s evident that the decision fell on Carlos, as he had a better chance of achieving a good score at that point. Charles needed a front wing replacement, so it was appropriate to call in the Spaniard first. At that point in the race, the two were about 1 second apart, so even though Carlos Sainz was in 6th and Charles Leclerc in 7th, a double pit stop would have cost the driver of car #16 even more time. Thus, the mistake during the first pit stop was significant, while the one during the second was less critical (at least according to the author’s view).

What about Carlos Sainz’s race? With the Spaniard, the Maranello team made the right moves. As for him, it was the overall performance of the car that fell short. Fifth place can be considered a good result. Despite not having the pace of his rivals, he still managed to keep Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris behind, which is no small feat considering the expectations. It should be noted that the layout of Zandvoort made overtaking very difficult. The situation will be quite different at Monza. If the SF-23 lacks pace, it will be much more challenging to defend against direct rivals’ attacks, almost impossible.