Peter Windsor criticises ‘strange’ Ferrari radio message received by Charles Leclerc in Baku

As he put pressure on the 23-year-old in the closing laps of the race, Leclerc received encouragement from his engineer Bryan Bozzi, who told the Monogasque he was doing a “good job” as he remained within a second of Piastri.

Ferrari even tried to thwart Piastri’s strategy by asking Leclerc to “get in front of McLaren”, although neither team decided to stop. Leclerc ultimately failed when he wore out his tyres too much in the final moments of the race, which caused him to fall into the clutches of Sergio Perez.

Perez attempted to attack him at Turn 1 but was put on the defensive, allowing Carlos Sainz to make an attack at Turn 3. The pair eventually collided, giving Leclerc some breathing room on the penultimate lap of the race.

Discussing his race on the Cameron Cc podcast, Peter Windsor explained why he felt his engineer’s radio messages were unnecessary and contributed to his problems.

Engineer Charles Leclerc’s messages made the tires worse

Leclerc saved his tyres at the start of his second stint due to the high degradation and the ease with which the rubber surface could overheat on the Baku street circuit.

Windsor felt Ferrari should have given him more relevant information about his tyres instead of encouraging him to go faster, thereby making the problem worse.

“I found it a bit strange coming from the Ferrari pit wall, all that ‘Don’t give up on Charles’ and ‘It’s a big fight’ – I don’t think that’s what he needed to hear,” Windsor said.

“I think he needed them to tell him: ‘Relax, leave the tyre temperature as it is, if it gets hot, back off a bit’ and I think to some extent that did some damage because his tyres wore out a lot quicker than Piastri’s.”

Charles Leclerc admits “mistake” that cost him victory in Azerbaijan

After the race, Leclerc admitted that his lack of defence was the main “mistake” he made in his battle with Piastri for the lead.

The McLaren driver had to make the overtake a few metres before the first corner, but Leclerc did not cover his line at the entrance to the apex.

LEARN MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1, from his fortune to his girlfriend

It was a shame that Leclerc lost pace on the hard tyres as he was aiming for his second consecutive victory, having also won the race at Monza ahead of the Italian Tifosi.

Leclerc’s strong result allowed Ferrari to reduce the gap to Red Bull in the constructors’ championship to just 31 points ahead of the final seven races.

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