Should Ferrari have stopped during the first VSC in Melbourne?

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride… and Classic Ferrari for sale on the top step of the podium? This prospect, hoped for by the Tifosi who have been without a victory since the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, once seemed within reach of Charles Leclerc.

Thanks to a smaller turbocharger than its rivals, the Scuderia's power unit gave the Monegasque driver a flawless start. He thus took the lead in the Australian Grand Prix as soon as the lights went out. He defended and traded this position with George Russell on numerous occasions throughout the race, before ultimately crossing the finish line in third place.

The race took a dramatic turn after eleven laps when Isack Hadjar's engine failed, causing the first safety car period of the event. While Mercedes Benz Seizing the opportunity to switch to fresh tires, Ferrari took a gamble by leaving both cars out on track. A bold strategy that could have paid off had Pirelli's C3 compounds not displayed surprising longevity. By choosing to pit later, under green flag conditions, the Scuderia saw the Silver Arrows pull away at the front.

Bad luck for Ferrari

No regrets on the Ferrari side, however, but rather a feeling of bad luck. While they were planning to dive into the pits during the second virtual safety car period triggered by Valtteri BottasFerrari had to revise its plans. Access to the pit lane was closed, the car of the Finn who surrendered his weapons near the entrance. There are always the post-race strategists and someone to tell us that it was obvious there was going to be a safety car twelve laps later. Frédéric Vasseur is being ironic on Canal+ after the Grand Prix. I think Mercedes was planning to make another pit stop, and we were all surprised by the tire performance because we could all have done 250 laps on them. From there, they were able to exploit that advantage. We had planned to pit at the second virtual safety car period, but they closed the pit lane. »

While it might not have seemed obvious that he could complete 58 laps on only two sets of tires, George Russell was nonetheless surprised by the tactics employed by his rivals. Making the one-stop strategy work was not easy. admits the winner of the race. I thought Ferrari would have left one car on the track and come back with the other. »

Ultimately, Ferrari's strategy could have been successful, had the Mercedes cars made two pit stops. However, it's worth remembering that, in absolute terms, the W17s of George Russell, running in clean air, and Kimi Antonelli were generally a few tenths faster than the two SF-26s and seemed to be managing their pace and tires in the second half of the race. While the saying goes that fortune favors the bold, it didn't favor Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton who, despite this setback, secured the honorable third and fourth places, confirming the solidity of the Scuderia's race pace.

ALSO READ > Charles Leclerc on Ferrari's pace in Melbourne: "I don't think we could have fought with George."