Ferrari reveal how their strategy against Max Verstappen worked perfectly in Austria
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Charles Leclerc making an overtake on Max Verstappen during the Austrian Grand Prix
Ferrari took victory for the second time in a row in Austria, this time, it was Charles Leclerc, who took his first victory since Australia, in the previous race it had been Carlos Sainz, who took his first-ever Formula 1 victory in Silverstone. This time strategy was not a point of criticism for the team as it had been in Silverstone, but there was an ever-present issue of reliability.
In Austria, while he was well on his way to overtaking Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz’s engine failed and caught fire, with the body of the car also catching fire, which is his second mechanical retirement of the season, and Ferrari’s fourth. Reliability looks to be a major concern for Ferrari even in the upcoming races and depending on which way it goes, it can make or break their season.
The major reason for Ferrari’s half-success in Austria was Max Verstappen’s very high tyre degradation as compared to them. While Verstappen was comfortable in the lead for a few laps following the start, Leclerc eventually caught up to him and overtook him, something he di twice more during the race. As reported by GPFans, Ferrari’s sporting and strategy director, Inaki Rueda elaborated on how this was possible.
Inaki Rueda: “Our main aim was to destabilize Verstappen”
Inaki Rueda said that Ferrari were aware that tyre management was going to be absolutely key in Austria: “For the main race, we knew that one of the biggest problems would be tyre management. We knew the soft would be too soft for the race. That left us with hard and mediums, and we believed it would be between a two and three-stop race.”
He added that Ferrari’s main aim was to disturb Max Verstappen’s strategy: “Our main aim on Sunday was to destabilise Verstappen, to put pressure on him, and persuade him to stop very early for a sub-optimal two-stop race. Charles put enough pressure to actually overtake Verstappen, and Carlos was coming to overtake him. This persuaded Verstappen to stop very early, as early as lap 13. This was too early for an optimum two-stop race, so we had reached our first objective.”
Inaki Rueda said that Ferrari did something similar for the second round of pitstops: As they pit later, they were able to come back at Verstappen with much fresher tyres and stronger pace, making for a fairly comfortable overtake for Charles Leclerc each time. Rueda said that Carlos Sainz would have likely done the same without his engine failure.
During the final stages of the race, Charles Leclerc encountered a throttle problem: “With only 12 laps to go we suffered that small throttle problem.” adding that the staff were as anxious as the fans watching at home. He also said: “Charles managed to nurse the car all the way to the last lap and this enabled him to bring an amazing win. It was a great weekend for Charles, but heartbreak for Carlos.”
Rueda added that Ferrari are very motivated to get the possible results before the summer break. The next two races are France and Hungary. Last year, France was the only weekend when the team did not score any points. This time, they need big points, even if Carlos Sainz may be taking a grid penalty at the event.
Also Read: Report: Ferrari’s upcoming updates not expected to solve reliability issues
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)