Ferrari explain Monaco GP protests were not targeted at Red Bull, but just ‘a search for clarification’. Ferrari explain Monaco GP protests were not targeted at Red Bull.

Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto explained that Ferrari’s protests launched at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix were not in fact an attack towards Red Bull, despite the fact that the Maranello team requested penalties for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who won the race on the streets of Monte Carlo.

Mattia Binotto pointed out that both Sergio Perez and teammate Max Verstappen were in breach of the Race Directors’ notes when they crossed the yellow line as they were exiting the pit exit, after their mid-race pit stops. The Mexican driver took advantage of a poor strategy call from the Italian side and was therefore able to overtake both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. From that point it was an easy win for Perez and Red Bull, but the Maranello team believed that his return to the track was not done in a legal way.

Yet after a lengthy investigation by the FIA, the race stewards decided that neither driver would be punished. Sergio Perez kept his victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, as Ferrari had to settle for second and fourth place. Mattia Binotto explained the protest was not an attempt to see Red Bull punished, but rather a way in which the Italian side wanted to look for clarifications regarding pit exit rules.

“We filed the protests because we think it’s right to get clarification. The intent of the protest isn’t really a protest against Red Bull itself, but the aim is primarily a search for clarification on a topic that is very important to us,” – the Ferrari boss said at the end of the Monte Carlo race – “We believe that both Red Bull drivers drove on the yellow line when exiting the pit lane. In the past, this was always penalized with a five-second penalty.” – he added.

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Following a meeting between Race Stewards, both drivers and representatives from Ferrari and Red Bull, neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez received any penalty. Each incident was evaluated individually with all parties agreeing that Sergio Perez did not in fact cross the yellow line on pit exit, while his teammate Max Verstappen had. However, referring to the Sporting Code, the Race Stewards pointed out that the Dutchman would have needed to have placed an entire wheel over the yellow line in order to be punished, which he was deemed to have not.