Ferrari defends Monaco strategy call after Sainz criticism

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur countered Carlos Sainz's criticism of the team's strategy in Monaco, insisting it had made the right call regarding the Spaniard's race given the circumstances at the time.

Sainz damaged his front wing early in the 78-lap event while attacking Alpine's Esteban Ocon for third place at the chicane. But the Scuderia charger – who had started his race on the hard tyre – opted to press on given the limited impact of the contact.

But when Ocon pitted after 32 laps, Sainz was called in by Ferrari a lap later. The Spaniard was hoping to overcut his rival by extending his stint on the hards.

Instead, he was left chasing Ocon once again when he rejoined the track.

An angry Sainz vented his frustration to his crew over the radio, but was told that the call was made to protect his position against the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in fifth place which was gaining ground on the Ferrari.

"I don't care about Hamilton," Sainz quipped. "This is weak!".

After the race, the Spaniard regretted his radio outburst but said that Ferrari should have been "a bit more patient"

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• Sainz: Ferrari should have been 'more patient' with Monaco strategy

Vasseur begged to differ however, the Frenchman explaining after the race that Sainz would have likely lost out to Hamilton had he extended his stint on the hard tyre.

"I think it was a good strategy because when we asked him to pit it was to avoid losing a position against Hamilton," said the Scuderia boss.

"Positions are key on this track. It would have been better to extend if we were not at risk from Hamilton, but in this situation I think it was the good call.

"It's always easy to redo the race after 5:30 and say 'okay, if you extend the stint then you can change the tyres when it's raining'," Vasseur added.

"But we didn't know at this stage, and we were in the situation to lose positions compared to our competitors."

As it turned out, Ferrari lost out a second time when it decided to keep Sainz and teammate Charles Leclerc out on track when a light drizzle in the final stage of the race dampened part of the track.

The pair pitted for intermediates a lap later than their direct rivals, but in the interim Sainz had slid off the track at Mirabeau, which dropped the Spaniard to P5 to P8 when all was said and done, while Leclerc salvaged P6.

Vasseur conceded that the call to stay out on slicks was a gamble, but one that he felt "was worth taking".

"We were expecting that the track wouldn't be so wet and that if you don't have to put the wet [tyres], that we could have finished on the podium," he explained.

"It was the gamble for us, the risk was not too high because we didn't lose position. But it is like it is.

"We knew perfectly on the grid that if we want to achieve something, we have to take risks. I'm not disappointed at all with the risks that we took."

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