Charles Leclerc says Ferrari were unfortunate not to get the 'full benefit' of the VSC
- Heinrich Griessel
- 12 September 2022
Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari were unlucky with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
The Scuderia driver seemed to be in a great spot to claim victory in front of his team's home support, after qualifying in pole position while Max Verstappen's grid penalty forced him to start seventh.
Unfortunately for Leclerc, the race didn't quite pan out the way he had hoped.
Verstappen wasted little time as he surged towards the front of the pack early in the race to take second position, behind Leclerc.
Sebastian Vettel then complicated matters when he parked his Aston Martin at the side of the track following an engine failure, forcing a Virtual Safety Car.
Ferrari made the call to make a cheeky pit-stop while the VSC was active, but the timing didn't work out and the VSC was lifted while Leclerc was still in the pit lane, which caused strategy complications resulting in the Monegasque finishing second, behind Verstappen.
"I think the pace wasn't bad today," Leclerc told Sky Sports.
"The thing is that we've been pretty unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car ending in the middle of the pit lane for the first stop.
"We were happy to make it harder for ourselves on the Mediums, with having a longer stint, if we had the benefit of stopping in the Virtual Safety Car.
"But unfortunately, we didn't get the full benefit of stopping under the Virtual, and then we had to make those Mediums last as long as possible.
"For the last laps, from the driver's point of view, or from my point of view, it felt like the track was clear.
"So, I was expecting a restart, but maybe there are things in the background that I don't know, but maybe that's why we couldn't start, I don't know."
