Leclerc wants Ferrari to learn from Red Bull’s two-car strategy calls

Ferrari chose slicks for both cars at the restart of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, and Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton dropped down the order. They fought back: Hamilton finished third and Leclerc fourth. Leclerc wants Ferrari to study how Red Bull makes strategy calls for both cars.

After the race, Leclerc said he had been on the same page as Ferrari and thought the decision was close. The track looked fairly dry, he said, while Ferrari’s data from intermediate-tyre running came from conditions that were not comparable.

Leclerc said the main unknown was how much water lay in the gaps in the asphalt. There was more water beneath the surface than most had expected, he said, so slicks were the wrong choice in hindsight.

Ferrari will discuss whether to split its strategy between the two cars in similar situations, Leclerc said. He said splitting the calls necessarily means one very poor choice and one very good one; it is rare for the two scenarios to produce roughly the same outcome.

Leclerc said Red Bull almost always gets these calls right with both cars in such situations. Ferrari needs to understand what the rival does better in that area, he said.