Ferrari breaks silence on Charles Leclerc ‘questioning their strategy’ during Chinese GP

Charles Leclerc managed a fourth place finish at the 2024 Chinese GP.

Ferrari breaks silence on Charles Leclerc ‘questioning their strategy’ during Chinese GP

Charles Leclerc and Fred Vasseur (via IMAGO)

Ferrari turned their fortunes around this season by focusing on the strategy department. Their efforts seemed to pay off, as the races in Australia and Japan earned the Scuderia praise for their development. However, this development was brought under questioning by Charles Leclerc at the Chinese GP, to which Fred Vasseur has explained the reason behind it.

Most of the field including race winner Max Verstappen, opted for a two-stopper, considering the high-tire wear at Shanghai. On the other hand, Ferrari has improved on their tire degradation with the SF-24 and is known for their bold strategy calls so far in the 2024 season. However, a bold one-stop strategy was frowned upon by Charles Leclerc as he questioned the team mid-way through the 53-lap race.

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Fred Vasseur dismissed the questions regarding Leclerc’s lack of trust in the strategy.

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Yes, but this was before the Safety Car, I think, when we were hesitating between one stop and two stops.
Fred Vasseur said in an interview with PitDebrief

The Frenchman discarded such questions as he stated that Leclerc questioned the team when the team was in a dilemma to choose between the two options. Moreover, it was before the safety car phase that the circumstances were different.

Despite the Monegasque’s uncertainty, the strategy seemed to work wonders, as he was just a few seconds behind Sergio Perez by the end of the race. Moreover, he continued his streak of finishing in the top four in every race of this season.

Carlos Sainz lamented Ferrari’s pace at the Chinese Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz was optimistic about Ferrari’s pace in the pecking order at the Shanghai International International Circuit. However, his hopes came crashing down as he and his teammate both qualified sixth and seventh on the grid for the race. Subsequently, this made the Spaniard’s race a lot harder than he had anticipated.

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz ( Image via IMAGO)

The three-time Grand Prix winner gave an insight into his weekend.

In the race, we expected to be better but we weren’t, so clearly this is the circuit where we suffered the most. We need to check if we’ve done everything we could with the set-up and if not, it’s time to work on the car because this type of circuit didn’t go well for us. I just focused on getting to the end and making sure Russell didn’t pass me on new tyres, and we managed to do that.

Carlos Sainz said in an interview with DAZN

After a subpar qualifying performance, Sainz was under constant pressure from behind. Moreover, after opting for a one-stopper strategy, a quick George Russell began his charge to snatch away the top-five finish from the 29-year-old, bringing flashbacks from Singapore last year.

Despite this, Sainz was able to finish in fifth place but was unable to continue his streak of podium finishes. However, despite all his struggles, he would be quite happy with the result keeping in view the pace of the SF-24 in Shanghai.

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