Leclerc is showing a new side as Ferrari strategist

Last weekend, in China, Leclerc also questioned the chosen strategy – plan D. Here, it’s worth a parenthesis: as Ferrari chooses to communicate with its drivers in this coded way, with previously discussed scenarios being represented by letters, this creates the impression that they are more lost than others among several options. But it’s just a matter of communication. Other teams talk about “delta + X number of laps”, which is effectively switching from plan A to plan B, for example.

In China, plan D was to make just one stop, a decision taken after Leclerc started running without traffic and demonstrated good pace on the medium tire. The question came after he had put on the hard tire and was frustrated with the poor pace, which had nothing to do with the strategy itself, but rather with Ferrari’s decision to remove aerodynamic load from the wings, which caused the car had more difficulty warming the tires.

This time, Ferrari didn’t listen to him, because making more stops at that point wouldn’t solve the problem and he would finish further behind.

Asked by UOL Esporte about this new facet of strategist inside the car, Leclerc explained that finding the balance between fighting for a tactic he believes is better and listening to the team is the most complicated part, and admitted that he is working to have more say in relation to his tactics .

“We’ve been working on this. It’s always something you have to balance because sometimes the team has more information than you and sometimes it’s the opposite, you have a strong feeling and the team has to believe in that feeling even if the numbers are saying something different – and it’s difficult sometimes for the team”, he pondered. “I think we’re doing a good job in that area right now.”

Ferrari sees McLaren pulling over

The result in China, caused more by the configuration of the car than any failure of strategy, however, turned on the yellow light at Ferrari. Leclerc followed exactly the same strategy as Lando Norris, saw his rival come in second and crossed again in fourth, 10s behind the Englishman.