Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari made the correct strategic decisions during the Spanish Grand Prix despite finishing fourth after controlling the race.
The Ferrari driver led 32 of the 57 laps around the new Madring street circuit.
He extended his opening stint on hard tyres, hoping a late safety car would materialise.
When the disruption failed to arrive, Ferrari brought him in on Lap 48.
This prevented George Russell from undercutting the position.
Speaking to Formula1.com, Leclerc defended the pit wall execution.
“I think we did the right thing honestly. If I had to do the race again I would re-do exactly the same thing in terms of strategy,” he said.
Saturday Deficits Compromise Sunday
The underlying issue for the Scuderia remains their single-lap performance.
Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth and fourth respectively, just under two tenths behind pole-sitter Lando Norris.
Hamilton saw his afternoon end swiftly when a brake problem forced his retirement on Lap 7.
Leclerc warned that poor grid positions are forcing the team into reactive scenarios.
This becomes severely limiting at tight venues like the Hungaroring, Zandvoort and Madrid, where overtaking is highly difficult.
“I feel like we are losing the results we want on the Sunday because of a lack of performance on the Saturday. This is where we should focus,” Leclerc added.
His renowned street track form masked some of the pace deficit during the race, but grid position dictated the final result.
Ferrari must now find technical solutions for their qualifying trim before the next event to secure front-row starts.
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