Ferrari Explain How Charles Leclerc Could’ve Finished P4 in the Spanish Grand Prix

The recently concluded Spanish Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel finishing 7th while Charles Leclerc retired after a control unit failure. Safe to say, Scuderia Ferrari have seen better days.

The year has not gotten off to a pleasant start for the Prancing Horse, with them indefinitely anchored in 5th place on the Constructors’ table.

Charles Leclerc proved his brilliance and now stands 4th in the Drivers’ Championship standings. On the other hand, Sebastian Vettel, like his sinking relationship with Ferrari, is slipping below the Top-10, holding the 11th position.

Charles Leclerc could’ve finished 4th, claims Ferrari!

The Ferrari technical team decided to run with one stop in mind even though the weather conditions were unfavorable. It was necessary to clinch some points from the race.

“Before the race, we wanted to go for a one-stop with both drivers, but we knew it would be very difficult. To succeed, the target was to go to at least lap 28 with Charles, who had started on the Softs and to lap 35 with Seb who had Mediums”, said Inaki Rueda, the team’s Head of Race Strategy.

Leclerc was instructed to run with the softs on till the 28th lap. He dragged his SF1000 till the 29th lap and pitted, switching to mediums.

The mediums truly bolstered his claim to a decent finish in the race. Pocketing Daniil Kvyat, he was trailing Lando Norris and was exhibiting a fair pace. However, a series of electrical issues in the control unit put a damper on his race while he was running in 11th place.

It was well anticipated that drivers ahead would pull off for a second pit stop. At the same time, others won’t be able to keep up and eventually would lose out.

Sergio Perez was the one with the same thought, and he was the strong one in the herd. However, with a five-place penalty, he was nowhere within the Top-6.

Ferrari looked forward to capitalize on Perez’s misfortune. However, the sudden issue with the control unit saw Leclerc retiring out of the race.

READ MORE- “F1 is Extremely Political”- Former Team Boss Has a Compelling Argument on the Downfall of Sebastian Vettel