“We need to decide now”: Inside Sainz and Ferrari’s French GP strategy dilemma

Ferrari’s decision to bring Carlos Sainz Jnr in for a second pit stop moments after he’d made a pass for third position was hotly debated after the French Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s decision appeared to have cost Sainz a podium finish. It didn’t help matters that the presentation of the discussion on the radio gave the impression they called Sainz in at the exact moment he was overtaking Sergio Perez, which was not the case.

However that moment came amid several laps of discussion between Sainz and the Ferrari pit wall over whether he should come in. The driver told them as early as lap 38 they needed to make a decision on their strategy “now”, but he didn’t come in until four laps later. Whether or not the decision was correct, the hesitation clearly cost them.

Carlos Sainz Jnr’s radio messages during the French Grand Prix

Having lined up 19th on the grid, Sainz was immediately passed by Kevin Magnussen, the only driver who started behind him. Sainz had to get his set of hard tyres into their operating window while the majority of his rivals began the race on mediums.

Lap: 1 Position: 18 Lap time: 1’55.014
Adami	K2 off.
Lap: 2 Position: 16 Lap time: 1’41.355
Adami	Think about mode X. Think about mode X, it’s available.
Lap: 3 Position: 15 Lap time: 1’39.779
Adami	Good job there. DRS enabled. Currently P15.
Adami	Car behind 1.1 second.
Lap: 4 Position: 14 Lap time: 1’40.095

By the fifth lap he had already moved ahead Yuki Tsunoda (who was hit by Esteban Ocon on the first lap), Zhou Guanyu, Nicholas Latifi, Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly, Mick Schumacher and Alexander Albon. But having got his tyres up to temperature they were soon getting too hot.

Lap: 5 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’40.063
Adami	Good progress these. P13. Magnussen 1.8 in front.
Lap: 6 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’39.942
Adami	Think about FS1 if it makes sense for turn 10.
Lap: 7 Position: 13 Lap time: 1’40.380
Adami	Magnussen car in front, one second in front, Magnussen lap time 40.3.
Sainz	I don’t have grip.
Adami	Copy that. Diff mid plus one.
Sainz	Everyone on medium quick.
Adami	Understood.
Adami	Temperature-wise, tyres are ready.
Sainz	Yeah but they’re overheating already.
Adami	Understood.
Adami	Brake shape plus one, brake shape plus one.
Adami	Try to let them down cool down, increase [lift and coast] if you can.

Haas chose a two-stop strategy for Magnussen and Ferrari hopes others would follow, clearing a way for Sainz. But they were to be disappointed.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Lap: 8 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’40.042
Adami	Charles lap time 39.3, 39.3. Update on tyre phase when you can.
Adami	The pace is good, you are doing to do the job.
Lap: 9 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’40.240
Sainz	It doesn’t feel that way but okay.
Adami	And Magnussen boxed. So hopefully they trigger the pit stops.
Adami	If the traffic makes a big difference there you have four cars: Ocon, Ricciardo, Stroll and Vettel.
Lap: 10 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’40.712
Sainz	DRS train.
Adami	Copy.
Lap: 11 Position: 12 Lap time: 1’40.664

Sainz continued to make progress, picking off the Aston Martin drivers to move into the points-paying positions.

Lap: 12 Position: 11 Lap time: 1’40.397
Adami	Good job there. Lap 11 completed. Charles lap time 39.3.
Lap: 13 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’40.468
Adami	No DRS for Stroll.
Adami	Making good progress there. Ricciardo next. 1.7 in front. Ricciardo on medium. 40.5.
Adami	Think about [unclear]
Lap: 14 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’40.435
Adami	Ricciardo no DRS. Ocon in front is three seconds in front of him.
Lap: 15 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’40.116
Adami	Charles lap time 39.0. Ricciardo 40.9, 40.9.
Adami	We have completed 14 laps, 14.
Sainz	This tyre is not good.
Adami	We prefer Plan B for Bravo. We prefer Plan B.
Sainz	Copy.

Only Magnussen’s team mate had followed his move onto a two-stop strategy. At the front, Max Verstappen’s efforts to pass Sainz’s team mate prompted Red Bull to make his first pit stop early.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Lap: 16 Position: 10 Lap time: 1’40.359
Adami	We believe it’s all down to overheating for tyres, obviously.
Lap: 17 Position: 9 Lap time: 1’40.049
Sainz	It’s taking me like two or three laps to pass every car.
Adami	Yeah, understood. Copy that. try to recover temperatures with more [lift-and-coast], eventually. Ocon car in front, 2.4.
Adami	Max has stopped for new hard and he’s at turn one now.
Lap: 18 Position: 10 Lap time: 2’17.570
Adami	Ocon lap time 40.5 and Charles in front 38.9.
Adami	Switch position red, switch position red.

The race then took a dramatic turn. Charles Leclerc crashed out of the lead, and the resulting Safety Car period was unhelpful for Sainz. Ferrari took advantage of the opportunity to make a low-cost pit stop and get him off the hard tyres he disliked, but it left him with a long stint to run on medium rubber.

Adami	Charles crashed at turn 11. Let me know for flap adjust.
Sainz	Yeah. I don’t know. I’m a bit puzzled with the balance.
Adami	Okay. Let me know.
Adami	Pit confirm and box.
Sainz	Yeah. I’ll take one.

Making matters worse, Ferrari released Sainz into the path of Albon in the busy pit lane. They warned him at the last second, but he had little time to react. Sainz made reassuring noises about the situation on his radio, but it didn’t convince the stewards his exit had been conducted safely.

Adami	Hold on brakes and K2. Traffic, traffic, traffic!
Lap: 19 Position: 8 Lap time: 2’20.344
Sainz	It was okay. It was bit close.
Adami	Try and cool down the car. Try and cool the car down. [unclear] the Safety Car line. No cars out. Charge on and cool the car.
Adami	Charge button off.
Sainz	I left the space there, going out. I did everything I could.
Adami	Understood. And plan D, plan D for delta right now.
Sainz	Yeah makes sense.
Adami	And Charles lost the rear entry turn 11. Mid-corner turn 11. Mode FW and charge button off.

Even behind the Safety Car Sainz could tell he preferred his new set of tyres, and though he had concerns about his front wing the team quickly assuaged them and he was ready to continue his rise through the field.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Sainz	Yeah this tyre already feels a lot better.
Adami	Charge button off and forward on brake balance. And work on your front tyres.
Sainz	Which position, are we?
Lap: 20 Position: 8 Lap time: 2’20.535
Adami	P10.
Sainz	How much did we lose at the pit stop? What position?
Adami	Safety Car in this lap. Prepare your tyres. And we are P8. We are P8.
Sainz	Who are the leaders? In front of these three, yeah?
Adami	…in front of those cars. Safety Car approaching turn eight and mode race. Charge on and will be only K2 on for the restart. And reset your toggle position to the middle.
Sainz	Why do I feel very little front wing? Check the front wing, there’s very little aero balance.
Adami	Understood. And brake shape zero. Safety Car exiting turn 11 and Verstappen approaching turn 11.
Adami	And all is okay from data. Can push.

Within a few laps of the restart Sainz had picked off the McLarens and Alonso, and was now lapping as quickly as race leader Verstappen.

Lap: 21 Position: 6 Lap time: 1’38.725
Adami	Alonso next and you are in the race.
Adami	Try to bring the tyres in, even if you are fighting.
Sainz	Yeah, I’m trying.
Adami	Copy.
Lap: 22 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’38.744
Adami	[State of charge] seven.
Adami	[Unclear] when you can.
Adami	Alonso 0.4 behind. FS1, consider.
Adami	Stay in [state of charge] seven, should be enough.
Sainz	Talk to me about this tyre.
Lap: 23 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’38.393
Adami	Try to bring them in nicely. You are P5, Verstappen 37.7 on hard.
Lap: 24 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’37.941
Adami	Increase [lift-and-coast] for better tyres and FS1 or that.

Inevitably, Sainz’s unsafe exit from the pits attracted a penalty. Impressively, when Adami described his penalty as a “stop and go”, Sainz immediately corrected him, pointing out it was a time penalty and not an immediate summons into the pits.

Lap: 25 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’38.128
Adami	Unfortunately we have a five-second stop and go penalty, we are serving it at the next pit stop.
Sainz	It’s not stop-and-go…
Adami	Five-second penalty, yeah, five-second penalty.
Sainz	I am quicker than these guys, no?
Adami	Yes you are quicker, we are in the race.
Adami	Verstappen 38.3.

By lap 26 Sainz was within striking distance of Russell, though it took him a few laps to find a way by. Once he’d cleared Russell, Sainz went after Perez.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Lap: 26 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’37.889
Adami	Russell 39.0, let’s go hunting.
Adami	Now Russell reporting a lot of understeer at turn four.
Lap: 27 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’38.043
Adami	Tyres are ready, you can push on them.
Lap: 28 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’38.320
Adami	Verstappen 37.9.
Sainz	He moved late under braking.
Adami	Okay understood we’ll look into it.
Lap: 29 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’38.257
Sainz	I’m quicker than Hamilton. It’s difficult to pass these guys.
Adami	Copy that.
Adami	It’s all about overheating, as you know. [Lift-and-coast] suggested as you are doing, good job.
Lap: 30 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.211
Adami	Verstappen 37.7 for info.
Adami	[State of charge] seven, Russell one second behind. Russell is down on battery, 1.1 behind, good job. Russell 1.4 behind. Verstappen 37.5. Hamilton 37.6. Perez 38.0.
Lap: 31 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.513
Adami	You’ve got a third strike turn three for track limits, previous lap.
Sainz	Copy.
	Perez three seconds in front, Russell 1.4 behind.
Sainz	Yeah my battery is very low.
Adami	Keep the [state of charge] as it is, it will come up.
Lap: 32 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’37.963
Adami	Switch red, switch red.

Anticipating a potential second stop, Sainz told Adami he wanted an extra turn on his front wing the next time he came in.

Lap: 33 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’37.975
Sainz	Yep it’s coming back with the battery and tyres.
Adami	Copy, that’s good.
Adami	Verstappen 37.8.
Sainz	Check on the Hamilton pace?
Adami	Hamilton 39.2. He went off, that’s why he lost one second.
Sainz	We can go up on the flap for next…
Adami	Copy. Switch position grey. Hamilton was on a 37.7 his best lap three laps ago.
Lap: 34 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.081
Adami	Verstappen 7.9. Hamilton 8.5.
Adami	And Perez 8.3.
Lap: 35 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.172
Adami	And Verstappen 7.9. Hamilton 8.1.

Once he caught Perez, Sainz began losing time. He warned the team it wouldn’t be easy to pass the Red Bull, which was quicker on the straights. With an eye on whether his tyres would make it to the end of the race, Ferrari began considering whether to pull him in for a second stop.

Sainz was eager for the team to make a decision as quickly as possible, as the later a second stop came, the less time he would have to make up places up later.

Lap: 36 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.599
Lap: 37 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.416
Adami	Perez [unclear], Hamilton 38.7.
Sainz	It looks very difficult to pass this guy. Especially with their top speed.
Adami	We are very good in 11 and 12, take advantage.
Lap: 38 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.310
Adami	16 laps to go.
Adami	We are considering plan A. 16 laps. Have a think and let me know. 16, considering plan A.
Sainz	We need to decide now. But I think it’s difficult.
Adami	Copy that.
Lap: 39 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.703
Sainz	Where is George?
Adami	He is 3.2 behind.
Sainz	No we cannot so think about something.
Adami	Okay, understood.

Ferrari took the decision to bring Sainz in. However they hesitated, first because they were waiting for cars behind him to drop further back so he would have less traffic to deal with after his stop.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Lap: 40 Position: 4 Lap time: 1’38.348
Adami	Okay copy plan D confirmed. Plan D confirmed. Clearing traffic behind.
Sainz	Do we know if Red Bull is stopping or not?
Adami	We believe they are staying out until the end. We believe they are staying out.
Sainz	Then let’s stop. Then let’s stop.
Adami	Copy that.
Adami	Stay out, stay out, stay out.
Lap: 41 Position: 3 Lap time: 1’38.857
Adami	Two more laps to clear traffic, two more laps.

By the time Ferrari decided they were ready to call Sainz in, he’d finally got a good run on Perez, who he passed. Before that he brushed off a message from the team calling him to pit.

As Ferrari later pointed out, the delay in broadcasting messages on the world feed explains why viewers heard the message after Sainz had passed the pit lane entrance as well as Perez. They say the exchange happened at the exit of turn 10, which tallies with the lag typically seen on messages broadcast on drivers’ onboard streams on F1 TV.

Ferrari finally brought Sainz in on lap 42. He left the pits with a huge pace advantage over the cars around him, but little more than 10 laps left to use it.

Adami	Box Carlos, box. Pit confirm and box.
Sainz	Not now! Not now!
Adami	Stay out, stay out.
Lap: 42 Position: 7 Lap time: 2’05.219
Adami	Come on guys [unclear] call me box then.
Sainz	Happy to go to the end.
Sainz	What do you think? Let’s do one more lap.
Adami	We think box now. We think box now.
Sainz	Okay. Okay, okay, okay.
Adami	Give you plus 0.2. There will be the five-second penalty.
Adami	Confirm and box. Hard on brakes and K2 on. Five seconds.
Adami	Watch the white line? You’ll come out close to Ocon. Pace delta three seconds. Stroll approaching behind. K2 off. Ten laps to go.
Lap: 43 Position: 8 Lap time: 1’44.372
Lap: 44 Position: 7 Lap time: 1’36.242
Sainz	What pace do I need?
Adami	35.5.
Adami	[State of charge] six, suggestion. Lando car in front lap time 39.0.
Adami	Perez and Russell are fighting hard, they are at turn 13/14.
Sainz	What is their pace?
Adami	Perez lap time 38.3. You have the fastest lap so far.
Lap: 45 Position: 6 Lap time: 1’36.208
Adami	Lando lap time 39.3. Fernando four seconds in front. Fernando lap time 38.7.

Sainz, who had wanted to stay out another lap on his mediums, immediately had second thoughts about the strategy. Ferrari told him the decision had been necessary due to the age of his tyres.

Lap: 46 Position: 6 Lap time: 1’36.243
Sainz	I don’t understand why we boxed, we would have pulled away.
Adami	We were short in tyre life.
Adami	Russell lap time 37.6, info.
Lap: 47 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’35.852
Adami	Fernando lap time 38.3, two seconds slower.
Lap: 48 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’36.611
Adami	And five laps to go.
Lap: 49 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’47.636
Sainz	Ah, I don’t understand.

Sainz’s slim hopes of catching Perez and Russell again were thwarted when Zhou retired from the race, triggering a Virtual Safety Car period.

Adami	Virtual Safety Car, stay out. Stay positive.
Adami	Charge button on.
Lap: 50 Position: 5 Lap time: 2’00.875
Adami	Try to keep temperature in the tyres. It’ll be soon, the ending, be prepared.
Adami	They are moving Zhou’s car at turn six. K2 on. Ending, ending.
Sainz	Still ending?
Adami	Yeah, still ending, still ending. Probably a glitch there. Ending now, again, ending.
Adami	And K2 on.
Sainz	We have fastest lap?
Lap: 51 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’35.781
Adami	Yes, confirm. Three to go.
Lap: 52 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’36.352

After the chequered flag fell, Sainz still felt the team should have gambled on leaving him out. By pitting for fresh tyres he had been able to set the fastest lap and gain an extra point. But even if he had only been able to out-run Russell by staying out, Sainz could still have banked more points.

Lap: 53 Position: 5 Lap time: 1’36.446
Adami	And last lap, last lap.
Finishing position: 5
Adami	And mode slow. And P5 confirmed. And you showed master class out there. Good overtaking manoeuvre and good job there.
Sainz	Yeah thank you. It was tough.
Adami	We were boxed in with strategy there with the tyres not going to the end. It was tough, I know but you did what you could.
Sainz	Yeah, I know, but we had nothing to lose by staying out.
Adami	Understood. Some pick-up please.

Become a RaceFans Supporter

RaceFans is run thanks in part to the generous support of its readers. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the same in whichever currency you use) you can help cover the costs of creating, hosting and developing RaceFans today and in the future.

Become a RaceFans Supporter today and browse the sit ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below:

• Become a RaceFans Supporter
• RaceFans Supporter FAQ

2022 French Grand Prix

Browse all 2022 French Grand Prix articles