In a rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari was unable to turn yesterday’s front row qualifying into the result it was hoping for and had to settle for 30 points, courtesy of a second place for Carlos Sainz and a fourth for Charles Leclerc in what was a particularly frustrating race for the Monegasque driver.
Key moment. Just prior to the start, it began to rain heavily, with the race start delayed for over an hour, after the cars had completed two laps behind the Safety Car on a very wet track. Once the race was underway, the track soon started to dry and so, on lap 16, the first of the front runners to pit and switch from Wet to Intermediate tyres was Sergio Perez. Leclerc made the same change two laps later, as did Max Verstappen. Sainz however, stayed out until lap 22, switching straight to slicks and it was decided to do the same with Charles, calling him in at the same time for a double stop. This played into Red Bull’s hands as Sergio Perez managed to get ahead of Carlos and Verstappen did the same with Charles. The race was more or less over at this point, although it was stopped one more time after Mick Schumacher had a huge accident at the swimming pool, from which he fortunately emerged unscathed. The F1-75 was faster than its rivals but the positions remained unchanged.
Next stop Baku. The Monaco result did not live up to what could have been. Today’s race will be analysed in detail in Maranello, as work will begin on preparing for the next round, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which takes place in Baku on 12 June.
Carlos Sainz #55
It was a tough race but overall I cannot be too disappointed. We made the right call to go from wet tyres to slicks but unfortunately a lapped car in my out-lap cost me too much time and we missed the opportunity to take the lead. After my pit stop I rejoined right behind Perez and that was it. Overtaking here is extremely challenging and with some wet patches off the racing line it was even more difficult today. It is a tough one to digest, because the win was there for the taking, but I gave it my all out there and we’ll come back stronger as a team for the next double header.
Charles Leclerc #16
I’m disappointed to have lost this win and it’s a tough one to take, especially at home. It will be important to understand exactly what happened to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.
In the first pit stop, we went from extreme wets to Intermediates, and got undercut by Perez. Three laps later, I stopped again, behind Carlos, and lost two more positions. It’s just impossible to overtake in Monaco without taking huge risks, so I stayed put to bring home as many points as possible and I guess that fourth is the best we could do under these circumstances. Mistakes happen, unfortunately today we made too many.
I love my team and I am sure that we will come back stronger.
Mattia Binotto Team Principal & Managing Director
When you start with your two cars on the front row and you don’t win, it means something went wrong from our side. I think we made a few poor decisions and we paid the price. I am sorry for Charles, because it’s his home race, so it was particularly important for him, as indeed it was for all of us.
There were other elements that affected today’s result, such as the traffic that both our drivers encountered when they rejoined the track after their pit stops, a factor that probably cost Carlos the win. Mistakes can happen, but it’s important to learn from them and take it as an opportunity to improve. Over the next few days, we will analyse this race in detail, as part of our preparation for the upcoming back-to-back races in Azerbaijan and Canada.