Windsor critical of Ferrari and Leclerc communication: 'That is ridiculous'

Although Ferrari did not make a grave mistake and thus threw away victory in front of its home crowd at Monza, F1 expert Peter Windsor says there is certainly something to be said for the team's tactical approach during the race. He calls the communication with Charles Leclerc ridiculous.

Improvement needed in tactics and strategy at Ferrari

Leclerc started the Italian Grand Prix from pole position, but knew after just one lap that Max Verstappen was going to make it extremely difficult for him to take victory. While there were no particularly big blunders at Ferrari, the team's decision to change Leclerc's tyres under the safety car on lap ten seemed to be a mistake. The most stupid thing about Ferrari's decision was to give Leclerc himself the last word. At least, that is what Peter Windsor says in a review of the race on YouTube.

"we saw an open wound in the Ferrari team coming under the heading of strategy. Over the August break they had a big sit down and the upshot was that Leclerc would get involved in all the calls, make sure he is comfortable with everything they are going to do." That something needed to change within Ferrari's organisation and that tactical ability needed to be increased was clear, but according to Windsor this solution from the Italians is actually counterproductive.

Ferrari chose the wrong way to improve

Windsor: "That's okay if you're going for a London Brighton run taking 7 hours 40 minutes or something. But in the middle of a race-paced Grand Prix it is completely ridiculous to get everything verified by your driver. What Leclerc needs is what Red Bull give Verstappen and to some extent what Mercedes give to Hamilton and Russell. In the heat of the moment, in the middle of a Grand Prix, he doesn't need to be asked 'what do you think we should do next, we've got 14 options which do you think we should go for?'"

According to Windsor, Ferrari's approach to communication towards Leclerc is flawed, but the preparations at the Scuderia are also never in order. Otherwise, they wouldn't need all those different plans every race. Windsor: "There need to be a very clear understanding of what's going to happen based on the amount of home work they've done. That's why they went into this race with Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, because they didn't have enough knowledge."