F1 journalist brands FIA’s call to reject Ferrari’s Red Bull protests in Monaco “scandalous”. FIA made ‘scandalous’ decision to reject Ferrari protests.

Motorsport journalist Roberto Chinchero feels the FIA’s decision to reject Scuderia Ferrari’s protest against Red Bull in Monte Carlo was “scandalous”.

Mexican driver Sergio Perez won the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix for Red Bull, while his teammate Max Versappen finished in third place, but there was a lot of discussion after the race and the results were in doubt for a while after the Maranello team submitted a protest. The complaint targeted the actions of both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen when they were exiting the pit lane after stops, with the Italian side claiming both drivers had crossed the line at the pit exit, which is not allowed.

However, because the text in race director’s notes and that of the Sporting Code had different interpretations about what constitutes to a breach of this rule, the stewards dismissed the protests.

Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was left perplexed, the same true for F1 journalist Roberto Chinchero. In an interview for Motorsport Italy, he explained: “Both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez touched the yellow line exiting the pit lane. The two Red Bull drivers have done a manoeuvre that in the past has been sanctioned. The FIA had not even opened an investigation and only after the Ferrari complaint, the case was discussed. The decision is scandalous: the RB18 did not cross the line with all the tyres so there was no violation for the stewards. A judgment that contradicts previous sentences.”

Roberto Chinchero also pointed out that the Maranello team has only itself to blame for losing the win in the Monaco Grand Prix, after Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz secured P1 and P2 on Saturday in qualifying. The two drivers were leading the way on a drying Monaco circuit, but some bad strategy calls helped Red Bull take advantage of the situation.

A successful undercut from Red Bull got Sergio Perez in front of Carlos Sainz, as Charles Leclerc was called in at the worst possible time. It was a double-stack for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc rejoining the race in fourth place, behind Max Verstappen, where he eventually finished given the difficulty in overtaking at this circuit.:

“The Ferrari strategists today took away a victory from Leclerc,” said Roberto Chinchero – “Then they will try to analyse and understand everything, but they made a macroscopic mistake in the race management. What must make Ferrari think is that they had a driver that was superior to anyone else all weekend and their strategic wrong choices took away the victory and even the podium from him. It was a big mistake that prevented Leclerc from winning his home race.” – the Motorsport journalist concluded.