When the safety car came out towards the end of the race, Ferrari kept leader Charles Leclerc on the hard tires but called Carlos Sainz into the pits to put on the soft ones, a decision that was followed by almost everyone else.
Team boss Mattia Binotto would later confirm that the team did not want to do a double stop and left Leclerc out because he had better track position and less old tires than Sainz.
Leclerc, who had had a damaged front wing since the start, had to struggle on hard tires on the restart. Despite the great defense that the Monegasque put up, he lost positions with Sainz, Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton, and fell to fourth position.
After getting out of the car in Parc Fermé, Leclerc had a brief chat with Mattia Binotto , before addressing the media.
“I don’t want to comment on anything now, I want to talk about it and have a global vision with the team of what the reason was,” he commented on the decision not to pit.
“Obviously, I personally felt that I was very strong in the first part of the race and that I lost a little bit of time. If that would have changed the final result, I think I would not have done it, but just in the future we will have to check everything.
Asked if he had said anything on the radio, the driver replied: “No, because it was obviously very late, and then the team said to stay out. So I couldn’t get in, obviously, and that was it.”
Leclerc said his post-race chat with Binotto was “just to try to cheer me up”. And, regarding that conversation, he added: “He tried, but of course the disappointment is big for me. It’s been a roller coaster of racing. On the first lap I broke the front wing, and then I thought it was over, it was quite understeer”.
“Then I got to play with the [steering wheel] buttons and managed to get a bit stronger front end, and then the rhythm came back and we were very strong.”
“Then victory seemed more and more possible, and then obviously the safety car came out and that was it. It’s frustrating.”
Leclerc assured that he enjoyed the final battle to maintain his position, and especially his fight with Hamilton.
“I don’t know how much you’ve seen, but it was quite on the edge,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com about the difficulty of defending on hard, old tyres.
“And I had to go to the limit to try to hold my position, which I did. I don’t think I could have done much better. It was fun, but on the other hand I was very frustrated.”
“I was on the limit but, again, I had to do it. I was on used tyres, and all that was very tricky, so I had to use everything I could. I was always checking to make sure Lewis was a little bit behind on the apex to try and remember the norm, and play by the rules. I tried to do my best.”
“I kept thinking that everything was possible, and I gave it my all until the end. It wasn’t enough, but even though I knew it would have been very, very difficult, I believed in it until the last lap.”
Leclerc stressed that, despite his own frustration, he was happy to see his teammate take his first Grand Prix win.
“Of course, and I think this is an important point. As much as I am disappointed on my part, I don’t think this should be a headline in what is an incredible first win for Carlos.”
“I think it’s a dream come true. When you’re a kid, you dream of this moment, and especially Ferrari, so he has to enjoy it. It’s his day and I hope next time it’s my day.”
