MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc says the team’s failure to pit under the first virtual safety car period, which likely cost him a higher place than third, was a “conscious choice,” as the Scuderia was waiting for another chance later in the race.
Leclerc took the lead into turn one, following a lightning start from fourth on the grid, and diced with Mercedes’ George Russell for the lead until the Virtual Safety Car was deployed on lap 12 due to the stopped Red Bull of Isack Hadjar. An opportunity that both Mercedes cars took to pit for a cheap stop.
But Leclerc says Ferrari’s failure to take the stop, too, was not a mistake; instead that Ferrari’s decision was based on the fact the team believed there would be more safety car appearances as the race went on.
“I don’t regret it,” Leclerc said at the official post-race press conference. “It was a wanted choice, a wanted and conscious choice. Looking from (Free Practice 1) to now, there’s been at every session a car that was stopped, at least one car.
“We knew that there were very high chances that this was not going to be the only VSC of the race, and so we thought that it was better for us to maybe wait for another one — and that’s always a gamble. Of course, we didn’t know that this will happen.
“(The) reality is we had another VSC after (it) and one which was particularly well placed. But, unfortunately, on this one, for us, the pit entry was closed and we couldn’t take it, so we were a little bit unlucky on that side, but it was a conscious choice again and I don’t really regret it.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.