“We weren’t doing the race on Max Verstappen,” Inaki Rueda gives an insight into Charles Leclerc’s strategy for the French GP
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Inaki Rueda and Charles Leclerc
Inaki Rueda, Ferrari’s strategist revealed the plan Charles Leclerc was on at the French Grand Prix. Though things didn’t go as planned for the 24-year-old driver. France is one of the most strategical races with tyre management and pit timings matter a tonne. Paul Ricard has the most extended pit lane with an average loss of 29 seconds. With high temperatures, tyre blisters and degradation comes as a curse for all the teams with more weight on the back, so had Red Bull this time around. Ferrari is lighter than the Bulls and has less to worry about, less degradation had a chance for the overcut on Bulls. Red Bull on the other hand did try for an undercut, putting Max Verstappen before Charles so that he gets time to cover up when Charles pits.
Strategy played no role for Charles, as the driving mistake on lap 18 lead him to a DNF. Leclerc lost his rear on turn 11 spinning around brushing the barriers. He didn’t pit a single time for no undercut and overcut to play along. Inaki Rueda unfolds his plan to pit Charles a few laps later from his crash and would have definitely crossed paths with Max with an advantage of new tyres backing him. up. Later Max comfortably leads the whole race to a dominant win, with only one rival out of the race.
“We weren’t doing the race on Verstappen but optimising ours. The stop would come 5-6 after the accident (lap 22-23). Then we believe that Charles could have overtaken Max on the track, “ said Inaki Rueda.
Charles Leclerc is out of the Championship
With Max Verstappen winning the race, Charles lost a total of 32 points, 25 for with win and 7 gifted to Max for the championship. This difference could easily decide the world title. This is Leclerc’s second mistake of the season excluding the one done by his team.
Ferrari’s Reliability is another concern for the title contender yet to be solved. But Mattia Binotto, Ferrari’s team principal is still optimistic and hopes to win all the remaining ten races. As of now, Charles Leclerc is 63 points behind Max with no hopes left for the world title this time around as well.
Also Read: “They really want Red Bull to be World Champion,” Ralf Schumacher blasts Ferrari’s strategy
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Soham Raj Jain
(480 Articles Published)