Charles Leclerc took an amazing victory at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. Thanks to the decision of the strategist at Ferrari, Leclerc had tyres that lasted until the end. Mercedes threw everything at the Ferrari, but Leclerc proved to be unbeatable.

We spoke with Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto about the crucial descision to put the hard tyres on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. ‘Earlier this season we had made some questionable descisions in the race. We threw away some victories there.’ He continues: ‘We are now releasing the chief strategist. We locked him up in the briefing room during the race.’

The team boss says that the magic 8-ball helped them a lot during the race. ‘For this race we put it [the magic 8-ball] on the seat of the chief strategist. When Hamilton made his pitstop, it was clear what we had to do. It’s clear that the magic 8-ball was the way to go.’

Mercedes is already looking into the possibility of using a similar setup for the next race in Singapore. James Vowles didn’t want to comment on his possible replacement.