'Ferrari magically found another method to get Leclerc to lose'

Ferrari started the race logically

According to Windsor, Ferrari's start on the yellow tyre was a logical choice. The team was the favourite before the weekend began and was indeed the fastest team on Friday. On Saturday, the track had cooled considerably after the rain that had fallen, so the cards were shuffled again. For Ferrari, the red soft tyres proved to be a good outcome for the F1-75 after a few laps of warming up. Windsor defended Ferrari's start on the yellow tyre, while Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff questioned Ferrari's start.

What Windsor does then criticise greatly is Ferrari's choice to go to the white, hard tyre. In a review of the race on YouTube the Brit says: "I just thought Ferrari had run out of creative ways to make Charles Leclerc lose another Grand Prix, but magically they found another method. It was on lap 39. Max Verstappen's crew felt there was more rain was in the air, but brought him back into the pit lane for a new set of medium tyres. George Russell responded immediately. You would think that Charles, with at least five laps left in his tyres after the strong first stint he drove, would be in better shape."

Ferrari make target of Leclerc

Windsor's surprise is complete: "What did Ferrari do then? They brought him in. Not only did they bring him in ridiculously early, they put him on the hard tyre. Charles Leclerc did not drive on that hard compound at any stage of the weekend, Friday or Saturday." Temperatures deteriorated significantly on Saturday and then Ferrari finally found a strong pace on the soft tyre. The medium tyres were also not as strong as the red tyres, but the white tyres had not even been tested. Windsor thinks Ferrari had the idea to let Leclerc drive on the white tyre until the end, taking into account the threat of rain.

Windsor: "They forgot about - and didn't even look at presumably - Fernando Alonso who had gone to hard tyre after his stint on medium tyre. He was all over the place and couldn't get the power down. I think that was an important signal to the whole pit lane. Several teams were running on the hard tyre, but we are talking about a fight for the lead in the race. We are talking about Charles Leclerc. When he came back on track it was, in a way, a shootout for Verstappen and Russell."