What was going on at Ferrari again? In the last few weeks one could get the impression that the Scuderia got its orgy of mistakes under control, but in the Formula 1 qualifying session for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil the strategy team led by chief strategist Iñaki Rueda hit mercilessly again.
Charles Leclerc went tenth after tire chaos in the Ferrari pits, while his teammate Carlos Sainz was only able to get fifth place on the grid for the sprint race on Saturday.
In the all-important third qualifying segment, the Monegasque was the only pilot who was sent to the Interlagos circuit on a dry track on the intermediate tires and vented his displeasure during the session. The rain threatened, but the other teams radioed their pilots that there would be a single dry lap.
The strange radio traffic between Leclerc and Ferrari
“Where’s the rain?” Leclerc asks when the traffic light in the pit lane is still red. “Turn one and down the main straight,” his race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros replied. “Is it raining a lot?” Leclerc asks. “We expect more rain in a minute,” said Padros.
Shortly before the pit light switches to green, Leclerc is already dawning: “Am I the only one on Inters?” His race engineer’s response: “Yes, we think you’re the only one on Inters.” Even during his outlap, Leclerc asks critically: “Should I come in if there’s no rain?” Padros reassured: “We’ll get back to you.”
“There’s no rain here at all,” Leclerc radioed in the last corner of his outlap. “We think it’s raining in turn twelve,” replies the Ferrari command post, to which Leclerc replies: “Yes, but not enough. Let me know!”
Why Leclerc drove a second lap on Intermediates
However, the Ferrari command post insisted for too long on continuing the poker on intermediates and, contrary to expectations, left Leclerc out. However, the insight came shortly afterwards, about a second after the Monegasse passed the pit entrance, making it too late for Leclerc to get in.
The Ferrari driver was already starting his flying lap on the intermediates when his race engineer Padros frantically radioed to him: “Box, now, box!” But it was already too late. Leclerc then bursts his collar: “Great, well done guys, let me push now.”
Leclerc’s lap was, as expected, far from fast on the intermediates, so he pitted to switch to soft, also messing up the lap of Sergio Perez, who was right behind him. The Mexican was already on the soft tires and was only ninth due to the traffic, which means that he has to start the sprint together with Leclerc from row five.
Rain and red flag make Ferrari bankruptcy perfect
Worse, however, was a departure from George Russell. The Mercedes driver misbraked at the end of the first sector, then spun in the gravel and got stuck, whereupon the red flag was waved and qualifying was interrupted.
But even without the red flag, Leclerc would not have had a good lap. The rain got heavier and the Ferrari driver already had a ride in his outlap on the soft tires in turn four, where Russell later went off. “That’s it. It’s too wet,” he confirmed on the radio.
With the onset of rain, which surprisingly washed Haas driver Kevin Magnussen to pole position, it was clear that Leclerc’s fate was sealed. Without a timed lap, the Monegasque was last in Q3, which means that he can catch up in the sprint race on Saturday.
Leclerc: Accepted intermediate decision
When Leclerc got out of his car during the session due to the rain, he quickly went to Ferrari sports director Laurent Mekies at the command post, who is representing team boss Mattia Binotto, who stayed at home in Maranello, as Ferrari leader in Brazil. Even after qualifying in the interviews, Leclerc is still completely served and at a loss.
“We expected rain, but it never came,” said Leclerc. “I will speak to the team to understand what we can do better in situations like this. But I’m incredibly disappointed because the pace was there.”
“I accepted the decision to go to the Intermediate. And then I waited for the rain, which didn’t come. We still have the car, but now we have to get everything right for the rest of the weekend.”
Pit stop chaos at Ferrari in Q1: when it takes longer again
In addition to the chaos surrounding Charles Leclerc in Q3, it is almost forgotten that the team did not show itself from the best side in the first qualifying segment. The first lap times were set on intermediates, but the track dried out over time so all teams switched to soft tyres.
At Ferrari, however, complete chaos broke out. The double stop by Leclerc and Sainz lasted over a minute because the right tires weren’t ready for Leclerc. Old softs went on first, then down again, then the light stuck at the traffic light before the right tires had to be lifted over Leclerc’s F1-75 and the two drivers were finally able to get out on the track.
The whole chaos meant that Leclerc ran into an AlphaTauri on the soft tires on his first fast lap, which was the end of the lap. However, he was not able to gain much distance for the following lap either, as his team-mate Sainz was running fast behind him. In the end, the Ferraris made it into Q2 in a parabolic flight with places 12 and 14 with a bang and a bang.
So it was a used day for the Scuderia and with starting positions five and ten for the sprint they didn’t exactly maneuver themselves into the best starting position in the fight for P2 in the constructors’ championship against Mercedes. Rivals George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished third and eighth respectively.
However, there is a positive aspect to the Ferrari chaos. With the blockade of Perez in Q3, Leclerc unknowingly ensured that his competitor for second place in the drivers’ standings with P9 in qualifying could not rush. The rain and the red flag also dashed Perez’s hopes of a better result.