MONDAY MORNING DEBRIEF: Could Ferrari have won in Australia with a different VSC call?

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli delivered Mercedes a spectacular 1-2 result in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but did Ferrari blow their opportunity of winning by deciding to keep both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton out on track during two closely-spaced Virtual Safety Cars?

Leclerc was leading the race on Lap 12 – very narrowly – from Russell’s Mercedes, the pair having passed and repassed over the first few laps in a thrilling display. Hamilton’s Ferrari was running third, just one second behind Russell.

A VSC to retrieve Isack Hadjar’s broken-down Red Bull prompted Mercedes to bring both Russell and fourth-placed Antonelli into the pits for time-cheap stops to change from the medium to the hard tyre. Ferrari elected to keep both Leclerc and Hamilton out despite the 10 second saving to the pack of stopping under a VSC, compared to doing so with everyone at full racing speed.