Leclerc had a solid first stint on the medium tyre despite missing a front wing endplate after a first-corner clash with Sergio Perez.
He pitted for hards just a couple of laps before Kevin Magnussen’s crash brought out the red flag.
During the break Ferrari replaced his damaged front wing but rather than switch to medium tyres for the restarted second half of the race, as some rivals did, the team stuck with the hards.
However, Leclerc couldn’t get the tyres in the right window, and he was quickly passed for second by Lewis Hamilton – who did go for mediums – before falling back.
Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz eventually finished third and fourth, having qualified on the front row.
Red Bull believed that Leclerc would opt mediums during the red flag break, which could have given him a chance to jump poleman Max Verstappen, who also kept his hards, at the restart.
“I was convinced they were going to take a set of mediums because it’s worth about five metres off the startline,” said Christian Horner.
“So I was very surprised that they went with the hard tyre. We saw the medium on Hamilton, and it was ok in the end.”
Source: Autosport