Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto defended the Maranello team’s decision to pit Carlos Sainz for a second time in the 2022 French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit.
The Spaniard had received a five-second penalty as a result of an unsafe release during his first pit, but he was looking strong in the final part of the, after a great recovery race having started from the back of the grid.
Carlos Sainz was able to overtake the Red Bill of Sergio Perez for third place when the Maranello team called him in again and therefore switch from a one-stop strategy.
The Spaniard also had to serve the five-second penalty which meant he had to once again fight his way back, eventually finishing in fifth place and also getting one extra bonus point for the fastest lap of the race.
Despite the fact that there was visible graining on Carlos Sainz’s old tyres, it did seem a strange decision to pit him when his pace was still strong and he was in third place.
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto explained after the French Grand Prix that it would have been “really risky” to attempt and get to the finish line without a new fresh set of tyres:
“We don’t feel it’s the right choice, we’re pretty sure it’s the right choice,” Mattia Binotto said in an interview for Sky Sports F1. “Because at the time he was short on [tyre] life, so it would have been really risky to go to the end. We don’t think he would have had the pace still to open the gap to five seconds because he had a five-second penalty at the time. And by stopping he did as well the fastest lap which is certainly a point which was granted. So I think that was the safest and the right decision to take.” – he added.
When asked if he felt a third place finish had slipped away though for Carlos Sainz as a result of the second pit stop, Mattia Binotto explained:
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“We don’t think so. We think that if we would have stayed out he would not have opened the gap to five seconds to the guy behind. They were going on a [1]:37.9 which was a pretty fast pace.” – he added.
Carlos Sainz was the sole remaining Ferrari F1-75 car in the French Grand Prix, as his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc had earlier crashed out while leading the French Grand Prix.
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