Ferrari flipped the script: 'They took full advantage of that'

Sergio Perez normally manages his tyres in an exemplary manner, but in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix he suffered more degradation, forcing an early stop. However, Jolyon Palmer believes there was little the Mexican could have done to beat Charles Leclerc in the battle for P2 in the championship.

After Perez's early stop, it became a strategic battle for second place between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari. The latter chose the superior strategy, where earlier in the season the team missed the mark on several occasions. Moreover, Ferrari appeared to suffer a lot less from tyre degradation than before.

"Leclerc and Ferrari flipped the script in Abu Dhabi and not only had fantastic tyre life – better than Red Bull for the first discernible time since Austria – but they optimised their strategy to take full advantage of it," Palmer writes in his analysis for Formula1.com.

Red Bull's two-stopper could have worked, according to Palmer, but Ferrari reacted smartly by not letting Leclerc lure them along. "When you pit early, you can protect yourself from the undercut by bolting on new tyres, gaining a short-term pace gain. The issue with this is you then become vulnerable to an attack late on when your rival pits later and charges on fresher tyres," Palmer concluded.

Leclerc managed to extend his first stint by six laps and, together with Ferrari, managed to stick to that one pit stop. In the end, that proved to be just enough to secure second place in the drivers' championship.