UNDERSTANDING UNDERCUTTING

Understanding Undercutting – Photo: LAT

Charles Leclerc was furious during the Singapore Grand Prix because he thought Ferrari robbed him of victory by having his teammate Sebastian Vettel do an “undercut pitstop” which ultimately resulted in Vettel winning the race. It was only afterwards, after the Ferrari engineers and team principal Mattia Binotto had laid out the facts to Leclerc, that he understood that the team had not conspired against him.

By DAN KNUTSON

Having won the poles and the races in Belgium and Italy, Leclerc was on a roll when he arrived in Singapore and earned the pole for the night race through the streets.

Ferrari had Vettel pit at the end of lap 19 of the 61-lap race, thus giving him the undercut. Leclerc was called in a lap later.

When all the pitstops of the front runners had cycled through, Vettel was in the lead and an upset Leclerc was second. And that is how they finished with Vettel winning his first F1 race in 392 days.

What were Leclerc’s thoughts when Vettel pitted first?

“I was surprised because obviously I was not aware in the car,” Leclerc said right after the race. “But I guess if this decision has been made it was for the good of the team, and it had to be the only way for us to do a one-two. So if it’s the case I completely understand it, but obviously, from the car it’s very frustrating.

“So not completely happy but anyway the overall result of the weekend is very positive. We hoped for at least one car on the podium for this weekend and we go back home with a one-two, which we definitely did not expect on a track like this. So this is very positive.”

Later, after a debrief with the team, Leclerc understood what had happened.

Ferrari then held a media briefing in the Singapore paddock. Here is what the three main players had to say.

Binotto: “The undercut was effectively more powerful than expected, it was 3.9 seconds. We were not expecting such a big number. As a matter of fact, when we stopped Sebastian, we thought when Charles stopped the lap after, he would be ahead of Sebastian. Sebastian drove well, got the undercut of 3.9 seconds, that’s the difference.”

Vettel: “I knew before the race that as soon as I got my call to box, that’s when I can try and make something with this race. So that’s what I tried to do. It was very late, last corner before the pit entry, and I pushed as hard as I could on the out lap.”

Leclerc: “I think we have been surprised by how powerful the undercut was. As I said, in the car it was very frustrating, but now out of the car I understand a lot more the whole situation. I’m extremely happy for the team, very happy for Seb too, he deserves it. Now I will move forward. Obviously, I wish I was one step higher today, but it’s part of life. Sometimes it goes that way, and I will bounce back stronger in Russia.”

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