Ferrari could have claimed both the first and second places at the Singapore Grand Prix if Charles Leclerc had been better supported behind teammate Carlos Sainz, according to former Aston Martin boss Bernie Collins.
With Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz finishing first, the Singapore Grand Prix on September 17th saved spectators from witnessing a result that was gradually becoming boring, as Red Bull's Max Verstpappen had won all 10 races before. The two drivers who finished behind Sainz were Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton respectively. However, according to expert Bernie Collins, Charles Leclerc - the other Ferrari driver who finished fourth - could have finished second if he had better support on the Marina Bay circuit.
Leclerc walks around the Ferrari technical area after the Singapore Grand Prix ended on September 17. Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
The Ferrari drivers started first and third, and Leclerc then easily overtook George Russell to hold second place early in the race thanks to a soft start. Russell started on the dirt lane on medium tyres and fell to third early on.
During the start, Sainz was told to keep a safe pace and try to save his tyres, even though the Spaniard told his team radio that he was within reach of cutting a second off his lap time. According to Collins, there were two main reasons Ferrari asked Sainz to slow down.
Firstly, controlling the pace of the race will help Leclerc take good care of the soft tyres, ensuring they last until the safety car – which is a regular occurrence in street racing – is brought in. And in fact, at Marina Bay, the safety car was brought out on lap 20.
The second, deeper reason is that both Mercedes drivers have an extra set of intermediate tyres in reserve for the race, compared to the other drivers. This gives Mercedes an option for a two-pit stop, should an on-track incident result in a safety car being deployed at the appropriate time. But by holding the pace, Ferrari is trying to reduce the likelihood of a safety car being deployed, thereby denying Mercedes the chance to reduce the time it takes to change tyres during the safety car.
As the first pit stop approached, Ferrari began to open up the gap between the drivers, with Leclerc encouraged to open up a five-second gap to Sainz. This was again important for two reasons. Firstly, if a safety car appeared, it would be enough to allow both Ferraris to pit in quick succession on the same lap. Secondly, it would allow Sainz to get further away from the cars behind him and thus eliminate the risk of being jumped by Max Verstappen, who started on the hard tyres and was sure to pit late.
In fact, Sainz made it through the safety car and was back on track just ahead of Verstappen. However, things were not going so well for Leclerc. When the safety car came out, the gap between the Monaco driver and Sainz was 4.9 seconds. By the time Sainz reached the pit lane, the gap between the SF23s had increased to 9.2 seconds. This was more than enough space for the two cars to pit in succession without making Leclerc wait. Leclerc’s pit lane went smoothly and the car was ready to be released from the pit lane.
However, the actual developments that followed were not in Ferrari's initial plan and inadvertently changed Leclerc's race completely. Normally, even after changing tires, cars are only allowed to leave the tire changing area when the warning staff gives the green light, this person needs to observe the traffic situation on the pit lane before allowing the car to leave safely.
For each race, teams usually use a measuring tape to mark a certain distance behind the tire changing area. When the required distance (which varies for each track depending on the maximum speed allowed on the pit lane) is ensured, a marker is fixed at that point. When another car passes the marker and approaches the tire changing area, the warning staff will signal red, not allowing the car to leave the tire changing area.
The cars that followed Leclerc for his pit stop on lap 20 were Russell, Norris and Hamilton. As Hamilton opened up the gap to Russell to ensure both W14s could pit without waiting in the pits, this resulted in a 2.6 second gap between Hamilton and Norris. By the time the Ferraris finished pitting Leclerc, Hamilton had also made his way to the Ferrari markings.
The gap between Hamilton and Norris is now quite large, and Hamilton is also slowing down to wait for Russell. So Ferrari may still have a good chance to be more aggressive, freeing Leclerc without hindering Hamilton. Meanwhile, McLaren with Norris is much more decisive, freeing the MCL60 from the tyre change area and thereby gaining position ahead of Leclerc.
Leclerc leaving the technical area at the Singapore Grand Prix on September 17. Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
These are all crucial moments, deciding right or wrong on a 50-50 scale between holding the car or releasing it. Because of being held, Leclerc lost about 3 seconds waiting, and dropped two places, behind both Russell and Norris, thereby greatly affecting the race results of the Monaco driver. From the images on television, it is difficult to clearly distinguish right or wrong, whether the decision of the Ferrari warning staff was too perfectionist or not. If they had still let Leclerc go as usual and assuming there was no collision afterwards, it is unclear whether the Italian team would have been penalized 5 seconds for unsafely releasing the car or not?
"There is also the hypothesis that when the race is over, the penalty of adding 5 seconds to the result will not be as big as the position Leclerc lost. But if more decisive, Ferrari would have had the opportunity to free the car from the tire changing area without penalty and still keep second place for Leclerc," Bernie Collins analyzed.
The wait to release the car also left Leclerc, when he returned to the track, behind Sergio Perez - who did not change tyres when the safety car appeared on lap 20. This caused Leclerc to drop another place after the safety car withdrew and the race restarted, losing his position to Hamilton, who was stuck in the fight between Perez and Norris. Having to struggle to get past Perez and face a series of cars in the group behind caused Leclerc's tyres to wear out faster than his teammate Sainz, who was free and active at the front.
Minutes after the tyre change, Sainz started to slow the pace again to conserve tyres and prevent Mercedes from switching to a two-stop strategy. However, the pace, while already slow, was not enough, and by lap 42, there was an accident. Both Mercedes had a golden opportunity to pit for tyres. The virtual safety car was introduced on lap 44, giving the teams a full lap to decide what to do.
Both Mercedes pitted to switch to medium tyres. Leclerc, who had a fresh set of medium tyres, was given an early warning to "pitch and overtake Hamilton". Ferrari planned that if Hamilton pitted, Leclerc would stay out, but if Hamilton didn't pit, Leclerc would pit.
When informed of Mercedes' strategy, Leclerc replied: "I think they made the right choice", and informed the team that he was planning to pit on the next lap. However, Esteban Ocon's crashed car was soon cleared off the track, so the virtual safety car ended before Ferrari could react.
Had Leclerc pitted with the Mercedes, there’s a good chance the SF23 would have finished behind the two Mercedes, even with the Monaco driver’s preferred soft tyre. But while Leclerc’s SF23 wasn’t fast enough to beat the Mercedes, switching to softs was a better option than not changing and risking being chased by Max Verstappen, as it ended up doing.
Leclerc at a corner on the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore on September 17. Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
"If Ferrari had been more decisive, they would have given Leclerc a good chance of finishing second, behind teammate Carlos Sainz, to cap off a perfect race. I'm sure the Italian team will have to carefully review their actions before the next race in Japan this Sunday, September 24," added Bernie Collins.
Minh Phuong
Source link
![[Photo] Binh Trieu 1 Bridge has been completed, raised by 1.1m, and will open to traffic at the end of November.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/10/2/a6549e2a3b5848a1ba76a1ded6141fae)
Comment (0)