Wouldn't Leclerc have won the race without a red flag? Vasseur responds!

Charles Leclerc managed to win in Monaco, but would it have been the same if there had been no red flag? Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur answers that question.

At first, it looked to be an interesting race, and for Max Verstappen and both Mercedes drivers, they started on different tyres than the Ferrari and McLaren drivers in front of them. But, in the end, we will never know if this would give an advantage in terms of strategy, as the red flag allowed everyone to change tyres without making a pit stop. The four drivers in front went to the hard tyre, while Verstappen and the Mercedes drivers switched to the mediums.

Would Leclerc have won the Monaco Grand Prix without a red flag?

The race could have looked very different with the other strategies. Vasseur says: "I don't have a crystal ball, honestly, but I think we had an advantage in terms of pace, compared to McLaren, Mercedes and Max this weekend. Probably more with Mercedes than Max, and Max hit the wall in qualifying."

The Ferrari team boss continued: "For sure you can imagine a scenario where they have a safety car in lap 45, you pitted lap 42, and they have all the benefits of the situation, but we all know that when you choose at the beginning, for soft, medium, hard, that there is a scenario somewhere, fitting with your plan, that there is a safety car at the right moment. But for sure when you don't have the same strategy as the others, it can be tough if they are lucky."

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy