Scuderia Ferrari HP came away from the British Grand Prix with just eleven points courtesy of Carlos Sainz who finished fifth and picked up the extra point for the fastest race lap. The way the race played out it was the best he could do. Charles Leclerc failed to score, as his aggressive strategy did not pay off and he finished 14th.
The race. The start was dry although rain was expected imminently and both drivers got away well, Carlos passing Nico Hulkenberg for sixth place and Leclerc doing even better, moving up from 11th to eighth behind Lance Stroll, whom he passed on lap 14. The first drops arrived on lap 15 but the rain was not heavy enough to justify fitting Intermediate tyres, but four laps later it increased in intensity and Charles, who had been struggling on his Mediums came in for Intermediates, a decision he took in conjunction with the team, as is usually the case in these conditions. Sainz opted to stay out and that worked out for him as the rain eased in a matter of minutes and those on slicks were soon putting in normal lap times again. At the same time, Leclerc was really struggling on the Intermediates as the track was barely damp and so when the entire field came in for Intermediates, he also had to pit for a second set. That additional stop effectively ended any hopes he might have had to finish in the points. Carlos managed to move up to fourth place after George Russell retired, even though before pitting again for slicks, he was passed by Oscar Piastri, which dropped him to fifth. The Spaniard was now on the Hard tyre and maintaining a good pace, pulling out a comfortable gap to Hulkenberg which became big enough for the team to bring him for a set of Softs to go for the fastest race lap, which he did in 1’28”293. Scuderia Ferrari HP is still second in the Constructors’ classification and Charles stays third in the Drivers’ while Carlos is still fourth, now just four points behind his team-mate.
A break then Hungary. There is now a two week break before the next round, which the team will put to good use, analysing all the data from the past few races in order to react to the drop in performance seen recently. The season resumes with the Hungarian Grand Prix from 19-21 July.
Carlos Sainz #55
It was a very solid performance today and I think we maximised the result with P5 and fastest lap. We executed a difficult race well under mixed conditions I was able to close the gap to the cars ahead. Unfortunately, when the track dried we were lacking a bit of pace and had to settle for fifth. Clearly, we still need to take a step forward to close the gap to our rivals. We now have some time off to regroup and come back stronger in Hungary.
Charles Leclerc #16
We had a good start today but unfortunately, the race didn’t play out as we hoped on my side. The rain was increasing from lap 15 and we thought it would get stronger so we pitted for Inters. It may have been an aggressive choice, but it seemed that it could be worth it at the time, considering the feeling that I had in the car and our weather prediction. Unfortunately, the rain was only really strong enough for those tyres a few laps later and my tyres were worn down by then, so that we haad to make another stop. It went wrong and we have to review our race and make sure we can maximise every opportunity going forward.
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari HP
It wasn’t an easy weekend, but today Carlos drove a strong race as he had a good start, was fast in the wet and his final position was the best he could achieve today and it included the additional point for the fastest lap.On Charles’ side it was a bit more difficult as we gambled and the strategy didn’t pay off. He had a great start and moved up three places then he lost some time getting past Lance Stroll. So, when both Mercedes went off the track at turn 1 in the rain we agreed on the decision to bring Charles in for Intermediates, as an aggressive strategy was the only way to try and move him up the order. As we saw, it didn’t pay off and probably cost us a P6. This weekend we learned a lot about the car and we made a good step forward which is encouraging for the rest of the season. Now we need to build on what we have learned and apply it to the next couple of races. Everyone in the team, including me, is impatient to get some good results.