Charles Leclerc gambled on soft tyres for the Zandvoort Sprint and made it stick, climbing to P2 after hunting down Lando Norris through 24 laps. Only Leclerc and Haas rookie Ollie Bearman bolted on the C4 compound while the rest of the field took mediums — a binary bet that could've backfired. It didn't. Leclerc waited until lap 18 to make the move on Norris, exploiting a deployment advantage down the main straight, and admitted he never expected the softs to hold up late in the race. "Always when you're the only one doing something, it's either very right or very wrong," he said, crediting FP1 prep for the call. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, struggled to P6 in his first Ferrari outing at Zandvoort, the same handling issues from Sprint Qualifying persisting through Saturday. The tyre read gives Ferrari momentum heading into Sunday's main event, where track position will be everything on a circuit notoriously hard to pass.
Read the full story at formula1.comLECLERC PRAISES FERRARI’S ‘HOMEWORK’ AMID SPRINT TYRE GAMBLE
Charles Leclerc gambled on soft tyres for the Zandvoort Sprint and made it stick, climbing to P2 after hunting down Lando Norris through 24 laps. Only Leclerc and Haas rookie Ollie Bearman bolted on the C4 compound while the rest of the field took mediums — a binary bet that could've backfired. It didn't. Leclerc waited until lap 18 to make the move on Norris, exploiting a deployment advantage down the main straight, and admitted he never expected the softs to hold up late in the race. "Always when you're the only one doing something, it's either very right or very wrong," he said, crediting FP1 prep for the call. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, struggled to P6 in his first Ferrari outing at Zandvoort, the same handling issues from Sprint Qualifying persisting through Saturday. The tyre read gives Ferrari momentum heading into Sunday's main event, where track position will be everything on a circuit notoriously hard to pass.
