Ferrari says it has “no regrets” giving Charles Leclerc the chance to attack Sergio Perez late on in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, despite his spin costing him a podium.
Leclerc had been unable to match the pace of Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Perez in Sunday’s race at Imola, looking odds on to follow them home with a third place finish.
But Ferrari opted to roll the dice on strategy on Lap 50 by pitting Leclerc for soft tyres, in an attempt to try and elevate him ahead of Perez.
Red Bull responded by pitting both its cars on the subsequent laps, with Perez remaining ahead of Leclerc but with the Monegasque now within DRS range.
While trying to force a mistake from Perez, Leclerc took too much speed through the Variante Alta chicane and spun off, clipping the outside barrier and having to make a extra stop for a new front wing.
Having dropped down the order, Leclerc fought back to salvage a sixth place finish but Verstappen’s second win of the season saw him cut Leclerc’s lead in the drivers’ championship to 27 points.
Leclerc’s first real mistake of the year could prove costly in the title battle, but Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto believed the team made the “right choice” to push for an extra position.
“I think there will never be regret to ask a driver to push,” Binotto said, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “I think that is part of our job, and it’s part of their job trying to drive to the limit. Mistakes can happen.
“I think with this year’s cars, obviously, the cars on the kerbs are a lot more stiffer and somehow, if you make a small mistake, you’re paying for it quite a lot. So no regrets. I think we made the right choice and that is it.”
Binotto stressed the decision to pit Leclerc for a second stop was down to trying to overhaul Perez and not through concerns over tyre wear.
“We were not running out of front tyres,” Binotto said. “At that time of the race, the pace with Sergio Perez was very, very similar or slightly better. But, because we believed that there was no opportunity for us to attack and overtake Perez with those tyres any more, we did the pit stop.
“We hoped that they would have stopped as well, which was the case. So they were both on new tyres. It was like resetting the race, 15 laps to go, and on soft tyres.
“I think it worked somehow pretty well because Charles was very close to Sergio and he tried to attack before he made the mistake.”
Leclerc admitted after the race that his spin was a result of him being “too greedy”, but denied it was an unnecessary risk as he felt he had a pace advantage over Perez at the chicane.
“I don’t think I was taking particularly more risk,” Leclerc said. “I was quick there and the car felt good there, especially in the race today.
“I felt like it was probably one of the corners where Checo was a bit less competitive than me. And obviously on that lap, I knew that there was an opportunity.
“So I tried to push a bit more, and it was too much. Apart from that, I don’t think I’ve taken any unnecessary risk on the other laps during the weekend or whatsoever. Everything was okay on that side.”
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