Ferrari must “understand what went wrong” after Australian GP strategy blunder

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has admitted the Scuderia made a mistake in leaving its drivers out on slick tyres for so long when a shower disrupted the late stages of Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were running in fifth and eighth, 42 laps into an eventful mixed-weather race, as the rain returned.

Leclerc was overtaken by Yuki Tsunoda the next time around, then spun on lap 44, which cost him seven seconds compared to Hamilton – moments before most competitors pitted for intermediate tyres.

Others, including Max Verstappen and the Ferrari cars, attempted to finish the race on slick tyres, but the downpour kept intensifying, which led Red Bull to pit Verstappen on lap 46 – as did Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Haas’ Esteban Ocon – with no obvious time loss.

Hamilton, Leclerc and Tsunoda however persevered for one more lap, but increased rainfall meant they ended up eighth, ninth and 10th after their respective tyre changes.

The Monegasque eventually overtook his team-mate for eighth, while the Briton also lost ninth place to Oscar Piastri and scored a solitary point.

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“The result is negative, that’s not what we came for,” Vasseur admitted, speaking to Canal+ after the race.

“First, in qualifying, we didn’t put everything together, and I think our pace was much better than the result we got,” the Frenchman added, as Leclerc and Hamilton qualified seventh and eighth respectively with 0.659s and 0.877s deficits to polesitter and eventual winner Lando Norris.

“Then, today, the strategy was not easy – we made the wrong call at the end. Let’s face it; we tried to stay out like Max, to survive with slicks when it started to rain, because we thought – mistakenly – that the shower wasn’t going to last that long. Had this worked out, it would have been lovely, but it didn’t! That’s it, we lost.

“We must not try and blame someone but attempt to understand what went wrong in our decision-making system. The gamble was good, but we should have pitted one lap earlier – like Max.”

Ferrari is only seventh in the constructors’ standings following the first grand prix of the season, with a five-point tally – Williams, Aston Martin and Sauber all collected more in Melbourne.

“There are 23 races left and we have to look forward,” Vasseur insisted. “The pace we showed on Friday – be it on a qualifying lap or long runs – was good, and that’s what we need to build our season on, not on a strategy call that wasn’t the right one at the end of the race.”