Ferrari wants “clear explanation” for Monaco GP strategy errors

The Maranello squad had been in a commanding position running 1-2 at Monte Carlo when a series of errors cost it the win and especially hurt Charles Leclerc.

With Red Bull going aggressive and being the first to switch Sergio Perez on to inters on the damp but drying track, Ferrari then got the timings and choices for Leclerc’s changes wrong.

It pitted Leclerc too late for inters, allowing Perez to undercut him, when it would have been better off waiting a bit longer for a straight change to slicks.

And then it further derailed Leclerc’s afternoon when a poorly timed stop on the same lap as teammate Carlos Sainz cost the Monegasque more time and resulted in him dropping behind Max Verstappen.

Leclerc said after the race that Ferrari had made too many mistakes which it could not afford to do when locked in a championship fight.

Team principal Mattia Binotto admitted that Ferrari had made some significant errors, but key now for the squad was in understanding the factors that contributed to its decision-making process.

“I think we need to admit that if you’re leading the race, and you’re finding yourself in first position, then we may have done something wrong,” he admitted. “So we made certainly mistakes in our judgement and we made mistakes in our calls.

“Now, what’s the process which brought us to make mistakes? I think the first mistake was underestimating the pace of the intermediate and the gap we had to the other cars, in terms of track position.”

He added: “I think we made a mistake as well, because we should have called him earlier, at least a lap earlier, or if not, as we did, we should have stayed out and simply stayed on the extreme wet protecting the position and then maybe switching directly onto the dries.

“Now that we made mistakes, I think it’s straightforward. What was the process bringing them that brought us to that? It will take some more time to look at it and have a clear explanation.”