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Motorsport

Why Ferrari didn’t pit under VSC in F1 Australian GP

Ferrari VSC Fred Vasseur Charles Leclerc Frederic Vasseur Lewis Hamilton Mercedes George Russell

Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Fred Vasseur has explained why neither Charles Leclerc nor Lewis Hamilton pitted under the VSC in the Australian Grand Prix, after losing victory to Mercedes.

Leclerc’s lightning getaway earned him the lead of the Albert Park race from fourth on the grid, and he traded first place with George Russell on several occasions over the first 10 laps.

However, when Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull broke down on lap 11 and caused a virtual safety car, both Ferraris stayed out while the Silver Arrows pitted for new tyres. This led Hamilton to express concern on the radio: “At least one of us should have come in,” he suggested.

Another VSC intervention occurred as Valtteri Bottas retired on lap 16; five more cars pitted then, but the pitlane entry was swiftly closed due to the stricken Cadillac being located on the inside of the last corner – which was “unlucky”, Vasseur told Sky Italia.

Leclerc ended up doing a regular pitstop on lap 25, followed by Hamilton on lap 28, with Mercedes taking a decisive advantage on its way to a 1-2 finish.

“What happened was Mercedes thought they were going to pit again and we were all surprised by how well the tyres held up, because we could have done 350 laps with those,” Vasseur told Canal+ after the race. “From then on, they were able to exploit that advantage.”

Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari (Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

The Frenchman expanded on the subject later on Sunday, when speaking to the written press.

“To be realistic with this, they were eight tenths faster than us yesterday,” he pointed out. “I think at this stage of the race, nobody was expecting to do one stop. We targeted the optimum for us, and the optimum was to extend.

“The issue is not the strategy call, but just the pure pace.

“I think the pace of Mercedes was better than us. Even when they pitted they were three, four tenths faster than us. They kept this pace all the stint. Okay, perhaps we were able to fight a little bit more at the beginning but perhaps pushing a bit more on the tyres.”

From Vasseur’s point of view, the glass is therefore half full despite Leclerc and Hamilton ending up third and fourth, 16 seconds adrift of race winner Russell.

“I have no regret on the strategy, no regret on the pace of today,” he insisted. “We did this instead compared to yesterday. Let's be focused on China now.”