Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has detailed how Mercedes stopped it from attempting an alternative strategy during Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Ferrari pair maintained their places in the nascent stages at Imola, with Carlos Sainz behind Charles Leclerc in fourth and absorbing pressure from Oscar Piastri.
However, Piastri would claim the position when he utilised fresher rubber to gain an undercut on Sainz, who pitted four laps after the Australian driver in the McLaren.
Vasseur has revealed that Ferrari had been angling to run an extended opening stint but abandoned that move when it noticed the Mercedes drivers could be a factor.
The Frenchman explained how the trouble in overtaking another car at the tight Italian venue triggered the decision to pit Sainz, despite it reducing his tyre advantage.
Asked about the decision to run longer with Sainz, who would remain in fifth come the chequered flag, Vasseur said: “Yeah, we thought about it. It was initially the plan.
“The issue is that I think Russell and Hamilton pitted and it would have been difficult to keep them behind for a while.
“It means that then if you lose position in this kind of track, it’s I think even difficult to overtake the Mercedes with the same tyres.
“But it was quite easy to overtake [Sergio] Perez and [Lance] Stroll and so that we had the advantage of the tyres because they were with the first set.
“But if you are behind someone even, maybe four or five tenths slower, you can spend your life behind and re-change your mind at this point.”
Meanwhile, Leclerc pushed on and put Lando Norris under pressure at the beginning of the second stint until a moment at the Variante Alta ended his forlorn pursuit.
The Monegasque would trail seven seconds behind Norris and race winner Max Verstappen, with Vasseur suspecting that he overdid his rubber chasing the McLaren.
“He went a little bit straight into the chicane. He had a poor set of tyres after this,” Vasseur said.
“I know he lost a little bit of momentum. I think he lost one second or something like this.
“You are out of the DRS and I think at this stage he overheated probably a little bit the tyres when he was pushing behind Lando.
“I think it was the same for everybody. You were pushing and closing the gap three laps, then overheating and then the other one was pushing. But we were all in the same shape.”
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