Tyre management struggles drop Ferrari out of points
Ferrari left Paul Ricard empty-handed after both Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc struggled to manage their tyres and slumped out of the points.
Ferrari looked set to pull further clear of Mclaren in the constructors’ championship when Sainz led the midfield in qualifying to take fifth on the grid, and then Leclerc undercut Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly at the first round of pitstops.
But both Ferrari drivers quickly dropped back as they struggled with the hard tyres graining. Sainz was passed by Lando Norris, Gasly, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll through the second stint, claiming afterwards that his tyre wear was twice as bad as those around him.
“Cars that yesterday we were half a second quicker than, like the Mclarens, towards the end of the race, they were two seconds faster per lap,” said Sainz. He crossed the line 11th, while Ferrari’s decision to switch Leclerc to a two-stop strategy failed to pay off when he then struggled with blue flags. He finished 16th, calling it “one of the most difficult races of my time in Formula 1”.
Ferrari explained that a narrow working range for its front tyres had led to its struggles over the long runs, leaving it with work to do to understand the issue. “We struggle a lot more with graining and with front wear than our competitors,” said Sainz. “We are trying to understand why we have such a narrow window.”
But team principal Mattia Binotto was uncertain that the issue could be totally resolved on the Ferrari SF21. “We may improve the situation, but to solve it, I think we need to have some hardware change which is not possible with the regulations,” he said.