Charles Leclerc admits he will be investigating why Ferrari waited so long to pit him after a strong race faded in Azerbaijan.
Starting eighth on the grid after his crash in qualifying, the Monegasque quickly made his way upto fourth using the medium compound tyre and was just about to pass Sebastian Vettel before the German pitted.
His strong first 15 laps would give Leclerc a healthy lead when the Mercedes' also stopped.
But from that point, he would be gradually reeled in and eventually passed again by the top three, as Ferrari kept him out until just 16 laps from the end.
“I believe there is a reason for [the long first stint]," he told Sky Sports. "I need to look at the data before commenting because they have a lot more data than I do in the car.
“I felt I lost a bit of time once Valtteri, Lewis and Seb passed me."
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The likely reason was concerns over the durability of the soft tyre which the front runners had been using when Leclerc was making his early moves.
Once back out, he would pass Pierre Gasly, who sneaked ahead, but that was the only hint of a charge as he surprisingly held station in fifth.
“I asked if there any possibility for us to come back, they told me no," Charles revealed.
"After that, there was no more trying to push to catch them, but just to try and save the tyres and do the fastest lap when I had the opportunity.”
The extra point would indeed be Leclerc's after he pitted again in the closing laps, and summing up his weekend, Leclerc again stated the blame lay in one place.
“It could have been a very positive race but to be honest there is nothing wrong with Ferrari, just myself yesterday," he said.
“I did a mistake yesterday and will come back from it stronger.”
