It is no secret that the relationship between Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari broke down, but his former employers were happy to see him finish on the podium in Baku. The Maranello team informed Sebastian before even a lap was raced in 2021 that he would no longer continue alongside the Scuderia for the 2021 Formula 1 season.
Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto, has on numerous occasions described Carlos Sainz’s arrival from McLaren as a “breath of fresh air” – but he did have something positive to say about Sebastian Vettel after witnessing him finish in second place at the Baku City Circuit.
“A special race for sure.” – Mattia Binotto said, in an interview for Sky Italia. “We’re also happy for Seb [Vettel], a second place for him and it was a deserved second place. I think as Ferrari fans we’re happy for his result.” – the Ferrari boss added.
Mattia Binotto, however, was not too happy about his own team’s result in Baku, even though they did fear they would struggle to keep Red Bull and Mercedes at bay from pole position. Charles Leclerc had to settle for P4, while an uncharacteristically sloppy Sainz rescued P8 to ensure the Scuderia did move ahead of McLaren and into P3 in the Constructors’ Championship.
“Our race was not a good one. We remain a bit disappointed. I believe that our pace, once we had a clear track, was not that bad – but we have to understand with the soft tyres, we knew we were a bit more in trouble in the first stint. We’ve been [in trouble] maybe a bit more than we should. Then we complicated our race via the drivers themselves. That being said, we did a great qualifying, two poles in a row and we gain the third place in the Constructors’ Championship, that we never had since the beginning of the season. So the direction is for sure the right one, and for sure there are positive aspects from this weekend.” – the Ferrari boss concluded.
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