F1 News: Charles Leclerc Takes Blame For Shambolic Dutch GP Ferrari Pitstop
Charles Leclerc has admitted to the media that he called for the pitstop at the beginning of the Dutch Grand Prix that left fans hitting out at the Ferrari team.
As the lights went out in Zandvoort rain began to fall almost immediately. Teams and drivers had to make extremely quick decisions of how to adapt their strategy to cope with this. Fans were left in shock when Leclerc came in to pit for intermediates and the team were left running around for the tyres which weren't ready.
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However, in a post-race interview with the media, the Monegasque driver explained that the pitstop was his call and that he knew he hadn't given the team much notice to get the tyres in place. He commented:
“Yeah, I did call for it in the last corner, so very late.
“But, obviously, looking at the situation in the last corner, I was sure that, even if we had lost five or six seconds at the pitstop, we would have recovered them during one lap, easily.
“So I expected to lose some time. I think we will optimise it as a team, just for the guys to be ready a little bit earlier in those types of situation.
“But, apart from that, I think the right choice.”
Leclerc continued with the race but later sustained damage to his SF-23 which saw him struggle to hold off the drivers behind him. Ultimately, Leclerc was forced to retire from the race. He continued:
“Obviously, already the first lap when I had the damage. I could feel much more than the guys were telling me on the radio. Initially, it was five to 10 points as what I’ve been told.
“Then we realised that it was more than 60. And more than 60 is a different category. So after that, the first lap, it was all uphill.”
