Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had been on the radio to his team during the red flag period in Silverstone on Sunday to ask what the plan was in terms of strategy.
Before the race, it had appeared possible that the tyre wear would be such that all three compounds could be used, and this possibility intensified when the race was suspended following a serious crash at the start of the race.
A scary accident involving George Russell, Pierre Gasly and Zhou Guanyu had ensued, with the latter bouncing over the barrier on the exit of Abbey and hitting the fence behind it.
Adding to the drama was a crash for Alex Albon as he was hit by Sebastian Vettel while trying to avoid the accident, and he slammed into the wall before slewing back across the track and into the path of both Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda.
Albon and Zhou were taken to the medical centre, and both are okay and, somewhat miraculously in Zhou’s case, uninjured.
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While the debris was being cleared, the wall repaired and the drivers tended to, Leclerc got onto the radio to ask Xavi Fernandez about strategy.
“Is my voice on air or is it private?” asked the Monegasque
“On air,” was the reply.
“Can you come to the car? I have a question about strategy,” said the 24-year-old.
Not for the first time this season, the Scuderia appeared to get it all wrong on strategy in Towcester on Sunday.
Leclerc picked up some front wing damage after contact with Sergio Perez on the restart, and the Mexican was forced to pit as a result of his wounded Red Bull.
Despite missing an endplate, Leclerc was quicker than team-mate and polesitter Carlos Sainz, who had regained the lead from Max Verstappen having initially made a mistake at Chapel, before the Dutchman ran over a bit of debris and severely damaged his floor, ruining his chances at winning.
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Sir Lewis Hamilton was baring down on the two Ferraris out front, and it took several laps for the Maranello-based side to ask Sainz to move over for the Monegasque, but the seven-time champion was still gaining after stopping later onto fresher tyres.
However, the outlook changed again when a late Safety Car was deployed after Ocon came to a halt on the track, and Ferrari chose to leave Leclerc out on the track while pitting his team-mate.
They did not believe that they had the time to double stack both of their drivers, so they maintained track position with the 24-year-old while pitting the Spaniard for fresh Softs.
The idea was that the Softs would degrade quickly, but this did not happen as Leclerc was passed by Sainz, Perez and Hamilton, ending fourth after a win looked very much in his hands.
Sainz’s win was the first of his Formula 1 career, and the 14th Ferrari have taken at Silverstone in what was a day of mixed fortunes and emotions for both Ferrari and Red Bull after Verstappen came home seventh.