Ferrari deputy team principal Jerome D’Ambrosio has defended the Maranello outfit’s strategy decisions during the chaotic Monaco Grand Prix, following a frustrating afternoon for home hero Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque driver was virtually running in second place when taking into account a five-second penalty handed to his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. But Ferrari opted to pit both drivers under safety car conditions, carrying out a double-stack.
Leclerc later crashed out of the race on Lap 65, which he argued was caused by brake issues.
When questioned about the logic behind the extra stop, D’Ambrosio explained that the call disadvantaged Leclerc, but maintained that it was necessary for the team.
“There were some discussions during the race on that,” D’Ambrosio told Sky Sports Germany. “I mean, the risk is that if you wait while the safety car is out, you could also find yourself with the safety car right in front of you, and then you’ve completely lost everything.
“So perhaps it wasn’t 100% optimised for him personally, that last stop. But in hindsight, and we discussed that after, it’s what you have to do as a team. It’s these difficult calls that the frustration clearly for him was that.
“At that moment in time, with the five-second penalty of Lewis, he was virtually second. But with the safety car coming in, that neutralised that, and we had to double-stack them. So it’s unfortunately these things that you don’t have much control over.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Discussing Leclerc’s brake complaints, he added: “He’s been struggling with the feeling in the braking zone, clearly. He’s been vocal about that. I think now it’s out there, so people know the drivers are running different solutions on that.
“So we need to get back to the factory and look at it in detail and see how we want to move forward. I mean, for us as a team, clearly the important thing is that we support the drivers in getting the right feeling with the car. And so that’s something that we’re going to do in the next few days.”
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