Ferrari: Tyre choice was "brave" at "key point" of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix
F1 News
- Bobby Vincent
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto heaps the praise on his team for making a "brave" call to fit Charles Leclerc with the hard compound whilst stopping for his only pit-stop of the race in Italy.
Leclerc drove excellently in Monza to record his second-ever and second successive victory for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton was Leclerc's main threat for the majority of the race and he had medium tyres fitted when he stopped during the 19th lap.
The Ferrari driver saw Hamilton stop for a tyre-change and decided to go in a lap after his rival. Binotto has insisted Ferrari were aware that the first lap out of the pits would be difficult for Leclerc on the harder tyres.
"We were looking at the soft, the degradation was somehow not critical, but it was there," Binotto said, as cited by GPToday.net. "We knew that by putting the hards on, we would have better pace by the end of the race.
"And that's where we saw it was important to protect ourselves. Beating the others on the mediums, we knew that after the stop, the first-lap would be difficult. That's where I think it was a key point for the race, for the victory. I think this choice was brave, but the right one."