Juan Pablo Montoya vented his frustration over Ferrari’s decision not to pit under the virtual safety car conditions during the Australian Grand Prix.
After a strong start from the Maranello outfit, Charles Leclerc took the lead from George Russell after starting from fourth, while Lewis Hamilton moved from seventh to third at the race start.
The tense battle between Leclerc and Russell continued for the first phase of the race, but as Isack Hadjar stopped on the side of the track and the virtual safety car was enabled, Ferrari opted to stay out while the other teams decided to pit. The same decision was made later when Valtteri Bottas also retired from the race.
“The start was amazing,” Montoya told F1 TV. “A lot more overtaking than anybody expected. The racing was mixed. It was really good. Surprised but not surprised at Ferrari with the strategy to be honest. I was kind of shocked. You should have at least divided the cars.
“Mercedes was very clear in what they were doing, and hats off again to Mercedes. They executed well, and Lewis did pretty good. I was impressed.”
The Colombian driver later added: “No, honestly, we always complained last year that Ferrari was never aggressive enough and they always missed a strategy, and in my opinion, they did again.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
“I think maybe they didn’t have a car to win, but they brought the fight to Mercedes. They got the start. They were holding position. I think Charles did an amazing job coming back to George over and over again, and he was looking really good.
“And then the [virtual] safety car comes out and it’s like everybody but them [pitted]. It’s like, not again. It’s like, why? At some point there’s got to be somebody going, ‘Are we really the odd man out?’ We can’t have 10 smart teams… You have 10 smart teams and one missing it and in their mind thinking everybody is getting it wrong.”
Ferrari ended the race with an impressive third and fourth finish from Leclerc and Hamilton respectively.Â
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