Charles Leclerc was furious following the Monaco Grand Prix, after the Monegasque finished the race in 4th place due to a strategic mistake by Ferrari.
Leclerc was imperious all weekend, even dominating the race’s early stages.
However, it soon all went downhill for the 24-year-old, after Ferrari put Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on different strategies.
Leclerc went from extreme wets, to intermediates then onto slicks.
Sainz on the other hand went from wets straight to dry tyres, after running a longer opening stint.
By the time the top four were on a set of hard tyres, Sergio Pérez led from Sainz, Max Verstappen and then Leclerc.
The Monegasque was furious over the team radio, with a highly probable home victory snatched away from him.
Leclerc told the media after the race that he felt “let down”, and that “too many mistakes” were taking place.
“Let down is not the word – some mistakes can happen.” a disappointed Leclerc said.
“But there have been too many mistakes,
“We cannot afford to do that, especially in the moment we are in, when we are extremely strong.”
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was aware that his side made a catastrophic strategic error with the former championship leader.
“It is obvious that our decisions were not the right ones,” Binotto stated.
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Whilst Ferrari got 50% of their strategy all wrong, Red Bull Racing found themselves on the money.
The constructors’ leaders made the right calls at exactly the right time with both Pérez and Verstappen.
The Mexican jumped from third to first, with Verstappen going from fourth to third.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko discussed his team’s strong strategy, with the Austrian explaining how the team had “everything under control”.
“I don’t know what information they had,” the 78-year-old said.
“We did what we had to do.
“Our strategic people had everything under control and handled the situation wonderfully. That we managed to split the Ferraris and finish ahead of Leclerc – we are more than happy with that.”
Red Bull’s perfect strategy was almost undone though by both drivers, who at first glance appeared to touch the pit-exit line following their stop.
The incident was noted by the race stewards, however, at the time no action was taken.
Ferrari decided to take matters into their own hands after the race though, with the Italian side lodging a protest to the FIA over the separate incidents.
Incredibly, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was with reporters, when he got a dramatic phone call from team manager Jonathan Wheatley.
“Ferrari just lodged a protest against Max,” Horner suddenly revealed to reporters.
Binotto explained to the media as to why they were lodging the protest, which would’ve seen Sainz take victory and Leclerc bumped up to second.
“We lodged the protest because we wanted clarification.” the Ferrari boss said.
“It’s not directed at Red Bull itself – we believe that both Red Bull cars have touched the (pit exit) line. This has always been a penalty in the past.”
In the end the result stood, with the FIA siding with Red Bull over the possible rule break.