Sorry George Russell, but your Ferrari theory is crazy

Telegraph

a day ago

The first stint Leclerc looked in control. Andrea Stella said that he believed the Ferrari's pace was genuine and that Piastri was not holding anything back. The second stint was decent as well, but it was the third and final stint that was the 'disaster', as Leclerc called it. He simply was not competitive and lost bags of time.
Something obviously happened with the car and it is not about engine mode or tyre pressure. It is clearly a bit borderline and might be the same thing that has been hurting Hamilton. Leclerc said it was an unspecified chassis problem after the race. Something can break or stop working correctly on a car, yes, but that happens once in a blue moon. It's impossible to know what this was without further information from Ferrari.
Norris victory a well-taken surprise
In the end, McLaren took another one-two finish. It was a bit fortunate in truth. Norris went for a bold strategy that ended up working unexpectedly well and both he and Piastri benefitted from Leclerc's issues late on.
Still, they deserve a pat on the back for how they handled the strategy of both cars. Yes, Piastri can perhaps feel a little annoyed that his team stopped him early to try to overtake leader Leclerc, but that was the right thing to do at the time. He was racing for the lead after all.
With Norris they would have thought they were putting him in contention for second, but the tyre wear and performance drop off was less than expected – and the MCL39 is gentle on its tyres anyway – which meant he ended up keeping track position and taking the win. I always say, strategy is a living thing and McLaren understood this very well on Sunday.