(Motorsports news) Polesitter Charles Leclerc was passed by Lando Norris, who dived up the inside into Turn 1. During the first stint, he was beaten by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Ferrari chose to leave the Monegasque out on medium tyres until lap 23 of 56, when he pitted on hard rubber for the first time. Only Leclerc finished with a one-stop plan.
However, his pace dropped substantially in the closing laps, forcing the team to urge Leclerc to trail Ferrari’s teammate Carlos Sainz, who eventually finished 10 seconds ahead. He continued falling back to sixth place. As a result, Leclerc concluded that Ferrari had “something wrong in our numbers.”
“Straight away from the start of the race when we thought the one-stop and the two-stop were extremely close together,” he explained. “I saw the numbers on the dash after 12, 13 laps.” In terms of degeneration, they were pretty good for a one-stop shop. “Lap after lap, I wasn’t losing that much time.” And, given our numbers, this was the prudent course of action.
“So I went for the one stop, which was definitely the wrong thing to do. And for some reason, there was something wrong in our numbers today, because we were far off the ideal race strategy.” When asked why it had broken apart, Leclerc speculated that “something was off.”
“To be honest, I don’t have the answer yet because it was quite far off the two-stops,” he continued.
“I finished 10 seconds behind Carlos, which is a good comparison because we both drive the same car. There was something off” with Ferrari’s members. However, Leclerc’s sixth-place finish is under significant threat because the stewards are investigating him for a non-compliant plank following random post-race checks. He and runner-up Lewis Hamilton face disqualification. The planks on race winner Max Verstappen’s and third-placed Lando Norris’s cars were likewise scrutineered and passed.
The sprint race format, which mandates parc ferme regulations after only one practice session, severely limits teams’ ability to fine-tune suspension settings and ride heights. This follows driver concerns that the Circuit of The Americas is substantially bumpier than last year, despite the fact that Turns 12 and 14-16 have been resurfaced.
