‘I’m not happy about it’: Leclerc’s radio concerns over Ferrari’s qualifying strategy

Charles Leclerc disagreed with a key tactical call by Ferrari during qualifying, which he said compromised his chances of taking pole position.

He will start today’s race from second on the grid having qualified 0.228 seconds slower than pole-winner Max Verstappen. However Leclerc lapped quicker than Verstappen’s best time earlier in the session and believes he could have beaten him to pole position had he not been put off his stride by having to run used tyres at the beginning of Q3.

That was necessary because he’d run a set of tyres for one lap at the end of Q1. Ferrari sent him out of at the end of the session fearing he could be eliminated if enough drivers improved their times on their final runs.

However it proved unnecessary and Leclerc was called back in after a single lap. He shook his head as he pulled up in the Ferrari pit box and said afterwards he was “not really happy about it.”

“It’s something we’ll discuss with the team,” said Leclerc. “I thought there was quite a lot of margin, but obviously being the first qualifying of the year, the team didn’t want to risk it. So we had to run again with another new soft, which again, it puts us a little bit on the back foot for the rest of qualifying.”

Having to run the lightly-worn set at the start of Q3 made it harder to judge the change in grip levels before his final run, said Leclerc.

“In Q3, I didn’t really find the grip straight away out of the box, which was a bit strange, so we’ll look at that. Having a scrubbed set also at the beginning of Q3 I think put us a little bit on the back foot, because the track is evolving and it’s a bit more difficult to read how much front flap you need to put for that last run. And there I think we lost a little bit the rhythm.”

Leclerc’s qualifying radio messages

When Leclerc set a lap of 1’30.243 in Q1 it left Ferrari in a quandary. Carlos Sainz Jnr had gone quickest in their other car with a 1’29.909, 0.334s faster than Leclerc. With the cut-off time for a place in Q2 standing at 1’31.025, they were confident Sainz would be safe from other drivers improving their times, but weren’t sure about Leclerc.

Nor were other teams whose drivers had set quicker times than Leclerc. Both Red Bull drivers, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Lando Norris also emerged for another run.

When Leclerc asked if he had gone quick enough to ensure his place in Q2, race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros was non-committal:

Marcos Padros	‘And box this lap. And we need a fast in-lap, please. Fast in-lap.
Leclerc	Ah we should be in, no?
Marcos Padros	So at the moment we are P6, Sainz P1, 29 .9 for Sainz. You were half a tenth slower sector one, almost two tenths slower sector two and one tenth slower sector three.
Leclerc	Okay.
Marcos Padros	And box now, box.
Leclerc	And box.
Marcos Padros	Will be stop in front of the garage.

Ferrari opted to send Leclerc out, but the driver wasn’t convinced, and he told them as he left the garage on a fresh set of tyres:

Leclerc	I don’t agree with this.
Marcos Padros	We need to go. We are just checking the track evolution. We need to make sure.
Leclerc	Yes but… Timing, we good?
Marcos Padros	So everyone is out except for Sainz.
Marcos Padros	At the moment we need to gain positions. We need to gain positions.
Marcos Padros	Zhou starting the lap now. Zhou seven seconds. And try to catch Alonso, try to catch Alonso in front. So everyone with new sets except for two cars: Russell, Alonso. Everyone else. New sets. Piastri three and half.
Marcos Padros	Piastri pushing behind, two seconds. Okay next car behind pushing, Hulkenberg, seven. And we have 15 seconds margin to start a lap, 15 seconds margin.
Marcos Padros	So pushing behind: Hulkenberg, three and a half, and behind Hulkenberg there’s a gap of four seconds to Bottas. So first Hulkenberg.
Marcos Padros	Watch for traffic with Hulkenberg.
Marcos Padros	Bottas behind at three. Still 15 seconds margin. Behind Bottas there’s a good gap. There’s a gap of 10 seconds if you need it. So Magnussen nine.

Ferrari kept an eye on the first times set by the drivers at the bottom of the timing sheets. As the Sauber drivers, who had been among the bottom five, fell short of beating Leclerc by half a second, it became clear his position was secure and the team told him to come back in:

Marcos Padros	Box now, box now, abort. Box now.
Leclerc	Ah…
Marcos Padros	Box now, box.
Leclerc	Of course, box. Of course.
Marcos Padros	And stop in front of the garage.

Before the race weekend began Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said they “must not be scared to dare if we believe a bold decision can make the difference when it comes to our performance.” However on this occasion they played it safe, and Leclerc wasn’t happy with the outcome.

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