Charles Leclerc and Ferrari did not end the first half of the season on a good note. During the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Italian racing team made another strategic blunder, after which the Monegasque was pretty much burned out. The driver, however, forgets to look himself in the mirror, which is crucial if he ever wants to win a world title.
His team has been very unhappy with choosing the right strategy so far this season. Whereas Ferrari were often the strongest in qualifying, they barely managed to excel the next day. Wrong decisions have seen Leclerc miss out on his race on several occasions. For example, Ferrari failed to bring him in during the safety car at Silverstone (he was ahead and finished fourth) and went wrong in Monaco when the track dried up (resulting in fourth place). The second driver in the world championship is therefore disappointed with his team. However, he also has his own responsibilities to take on.
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Ferrari made an unusual choice in Hungary by not only bringing him in for a tyre change at the wrong time but also choosing the wrong compound. During the race and afterwards, Leclerc found it incomprehensible that his team came to this decision. However, during the race Leclerc could have intervened himself, taking an example from teammate Carlos Sainz.
In the French GP, Sainz was in the process of overtaking when Ferrari ordered him to come in for a tyre change.
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The Spaniard immediately felt the moment was wrong and refused to enter the pit lane, doing Sainz a great disservice. He made the same decision earlier in Monaco, which earned him second place.
Leclerc, unlike Sainz, is relying entirely on the information Ferrari have in the pit lane about the state of his car: clearly the wrong mindset. The driver must realise that he only knows how the car feels and that he must therefore look critically at the team’s decisions. If he and his talents feel that another choice is better, he should be able to bang his fist on the table and overrule his team.
