Charles Leclerc said Ferrari made multiple mistakes with its strategy in the rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix, starting with his first pit stop.
Having led the early stages of the race, Leclerc slipped to fourth place at the finish.
His day began to go awry as the track began to dry and Ferrari brought him in to fit intermediate tyres. The team was reacting to Sergio Perez, who had pitted two laps earlier to switch from full wets to intermediates and was immediately quicker.
Leclerc’s race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros had already suggested the possibility of waiting for the track to dry more fully and going straight from full wets to slicks. However after Leclerc was told Perez had switched to intermediates he drove a full lap then told his team: “Inter would be much quicker, for sure.”
Later on that lap, as Leclerc exited the chicane, Marcos Padros told him to pit. Leclerc did not question the decision, and Ferrari put him on intermediates.
Meanwhile his team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr was having the same conversation with his race engineer. However Sainz was doubtful switching to intermediates was the correct decision, and less easily persuaded of the need to react to Perez’s pit stop.
Told Perez had pitted for intermediates, Sainz replied: “I’m not sure it’s the right call. It’s nearly ready for dry.”
“We would like to cover Checo on our side,” his race engineer Ricardo Adami told him. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do,” Sainz asserted. “In five, six laps, it might be dry.”
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Nonetheless Ferrari did call Sainz into the pits, only to cancel the instruction. Leclerc came in shortly afterwards, but lost his position to Perez.
Leclerc’s troubles worsened from that point onwards as he lost more time in traffic and again having to queue in the pits behind his team mate. However he stressed the original…