Despite the ‘positive rebound’ of the Sprint Race, with Charles Leclerc who was able to recover from tenth to sixth position and Carlos Sainz from fifth to second at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, the disastrous strategy seen on Friday’s qualifying session with Charles Leclerc is still the main topic of discussion. Charles Leclerc was the only one to be sent to the track with intermediate tires early in Q3, when the circuit was still too dry for that kind of move to lead to a positive outcome. The result was the Ferrari #16 could not set a lap time and had to start the Brazil sprint race from fifth row.
Interviewed by Sky Sport F1, the team principal of the Maranello team, Mattia Binotto, faced criticism for what many felt was another big strategy mistake made by the Maranello team’s pit wall, but the Ferrari does does not completely agree: “A lot has been said, I have listened to what was said in the media and they are always ready to criticize” – said the Ferrari boss, not hiding a bit of annoyance – “for sure it was not the correct move” – Mattia Binotto acknowledged in the face of evidence – “but I thought more about why we came to that choice. Being the only ones to go on the intermediates must make us think”.
But Mattia Binotto also wanted to reiterate the role played by luck and the unpredictability of the Brazilian weather: “That was a lottery. The fact that Kevin was on pole with Hamilton eighth and Perez ninth is further proof of this. We need to reflect on the process rather than on the choice, which could have turned out to be the right one.” – he pointed out after the Brazilian Sprint event at Interlagos.
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However, it was Charles Leclerc who did not seem too agree with Mattia Binotto’s words. The Monegasque, always speaking to Sky Italia about Ferrari’s prospects in the future, in fact seemed clearly less convinced about what was decided by the strategists from the pit wall than his team principal. “The result of Friday’s qualifying proves that we need to improve a lot. We paid the price for this in the Sprint and I hope tomorrow to have a clean race” – Charles Leclerc concluded.
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