Ferrari could have claimed both the first and second places at the Singapore Grand Prix if Charles Leclerc had been better supported behind teammate Carlos Sainz, according to former Aston Martin boss Bernie Collins.
With Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz winning, the Singapore Grand Prix on September 17th saved spectators from witnessing a result that was gradually becoming boring, as Red Bull's Max Verstpappen had won all 10 races before. The two drivers who finished behind Sainz were Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton respectively. However, according to expert Bernie Collins, Charles Leclerc - the other Ferrari driver who finished fourth - could have finished second if he had better support on the Marina Bay circuit.
Leclerc walks around Ferrari's technical area after the Singapore Grand Prix ended on September 17. Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
The Ferrari drivers started first and third, and Leclerc then easily overtook George Russell to hold second place early in the race, having started on soft tyres. Russell started on the dirt lane on medium tyres and was dropped to third early on.
During the start, Sainz was told to keep a safe pace and try to save his tyres, even though the Spaniard told his team on the radio that he was within reach of cutting a second off his lap time. According to Collins, there were two main reasons Ferrari asked Sainz to slow down.
Firstly, controlling the pace of the race will help Leclerc take good care of the soft tyres, ensuring that they last until the safety car – which is a regular occurrence in tight street races – is brought in. And indeed at Marina Bay, the safety car was brought out on lap 20.
The second, deeper reason is that both Mercedes drivers have an extra set of intermediate tyres in reserve for the race, compared to the other drivers. This gives Mercedes an option for a two-pit strategy, should an on-track incident result in a safety car being deployed at the appropriate time. But by holding the pace, Ferrari is trying to reduce the likelihood of a safety car being deployed, thereby denying Mercedes the opportunity to reduce the time it takes to change tyres during the safety car.
As the first tyre change approached, Ferrari began to open up the gap between the drivers, with Leclerc encouraged to open up a five-second gap to Sainz. This was again important for two reasons. Firstly, if a safety car appeared, the gap would be enough to allow both Ferraris to pit in succession on the same lap. Secondly, it would allow Sainz to pull away from the cars behind him and thus eliminate the risk of being jumped by Max Verstappen, who started on the hard tyre and was sure to pit late.
In fact, when the safety car was deployed, Sainz made it through the change smoothly and was back on track just ahead of Verstappen. At the same time, however, things were not going so well for Leclerc. When the safety car came out, the gap between the Monaco driver and Sainz was 4.9 seconds. By the time Sainz reached the pit entrance, the gap between the two SF23s had increased to 9.2 seconds. That was more than enough space for the two cars to pit in succession without making Leclerc wait. Leclerc’s pit stop went smoothly and the car was ready to be released from the pit lane.
However, the actual events that followed were not in Ferrari's initial plan and inadvertently changed Leclerc's race completely. Normally, even after changing tires, cars are only allowed to leave the tire changing area when the safety officer gives the green light, this person needs to observe the traffic situation on the pit lane before allowing the car to leave safely.
For each race, teams usually use a measuring tape to mark a certain distance behind the tire changing area. When the required distance (which varies for each track depending on the maximum speed allowed on the pit lane) is ensured, a marker is fixed at that point. When another car passes the marker and approaches the tire changing area, the warning staff will signal red, not allowing the car to leave the tire changing area.
The cars that followed Leclerc for his tyre change on lap 20 were Russell, Norris and Hamilton. As Hamilton was closing in on Russell to ensure both W14s made it in without having to wait in the pits, this resulted in the gap between Hamilton and Norris increasing to 2.6 seconds. By the time Ferrari finished changing Leclerc's tyres, Hamilton had also moved towards the Ferrari markings.
The gap between Hamilton and Norris is now clearly quite large, and Hamilton is also slowing down to wait for Russell. So Ferrari may still have a good chance to act more aggressively, freeing Leclerc without hindering Hamilton. Meanwhile, McLaren with Norris is much more decisive, freeing the MCL60 from the tyre change area and thereby gaining position ahead of Leclerc.
Leclerc leaves the technical area at the Singapore Grand Prix on September 17. Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
These were all crucial moments, deciding right or wrong between holding the car or releasing it. Because of being held, Leclerc lost about 3 seconds waiting, and dropped two places, behind both Russell and Norris, thereby greatly affecting the race results of the Monaco driver. From the images on television, it is difficult to clearly distinguish right or wrong, whether the decision of the Ferrari warning staff was too perfectionist or not. If they had still let Leclerc go as usual and assuming there was no collision afterwards, it is unclear whether the Italian team would have been penalized 5 seconds for unsafely releasing the car or not?
"There is also the hypothesis that when the race is over, the five-second penalty added to the result will not be as big as the position Leclerc lost. But if Ferrari had been more decisive, they would have had the opportunity to free the car from the tire change area without being penalized and still keep second place for Leclerc," Bernie Collins analyzed.
The wait to release the car also left Leclerc, when he returned to the track, behind Sergio Perez - who did not change tyres when the safety car appeared on lap 20. This caused Leclerc to drop another place after the safety car was withdrawn and the race restarted, losing his position to Hamilton, who was stuck in the fight between Perez and Norris. Having to struggle to get past Perez and face a series of cars in the back group saw Leclerc's tyres wear out faster than his teammate Sainz, who was free and active at the front.
Minutes after the change, Sainz started to pace the race again to save tyres and prevent Mercedes from having the opportunity to switch to a two-stop strategy. However, the pace, while slow, was not enough, and on lap 42, there was an accident. Both Mercedes had a golden opportunity to pit for tyres. The virtual safety car was introduced on lap 44, so the teams had a full lap to decide what to do.
Both Mercedes pitted for the mediums. Leclerc, who had a fresh set of mediums, was told early on to "pit to overtake Hamilton". Ferrari expected that if Hamilton pitted, Leclerc would stay out, but if Hamilton didn't pit, Leclerc would pit.
When informed of Mercedes' strategy, Leclerc replied: "I think they made the right choice", and informed the team that he was planning to pit on the next lap. However, Esteban Ocon's crashed car was soon cleared from the track, so the virtual safety car ended before Ferrari could react.
Had Leclerc pitted with the Mercedes, there was a good chance the SF23 would have finished behind the two Mercedes cars, even with the Monaco driver’s preferred soft tyre. But while Leclerc’s SF23 wasn’t fast enough to beat the Mercedes, switching to softs was a better option than not changing and risking being chased by Max Verstappen, as it turned out.
Leclerc at a corner on the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore on September 17. Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
"If Ferrari had been more decisive, they would have given Leclerc a good chance of finishing second, behind teammate Carlos Sainz, to cap off a perfect race. I'm sure the Italian team will have to carefully review their actions before the next race in Japan this Sunday, September 24," added Bernie Collins.
Minh Phuong
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