In the Ferrari pits, surprisingly, you could feel a sense of sadness. But if in 2020 this feeling was due to helplessness, this year the heads down are due to regret. Because the SF21 at Imola could have done much better than a fourth and fifth place. If Carlos Sainz was the protagonist of a few too many mistakes (only to recover in the second part of the Grand Prix), the episodes have turned their backs on Charles Leclerc. For example, the red flag after the accident between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell. Accident that led to a rolling start, but Charles Leclerc did not know it: the reason is that the radio communication with the garage did not work, which is why the Monegasque driver failed to overtake Max Verstappen when the Dutchman momentarily lost control of Red Bull at the restart behind the Safety Car.
Team principal Mattia Binotto explained what happened: “We had loaded the set-up and put more rear wing. This did not facilitate the restart after the red flag. We know that we are missing a bit on the straight and that said we will try to improve. Sadly after the restart Charles’ radio was not working, he talked to us but we couldn’t talk to him . He didn’t even know it was a rolling start, then he noticed it as they went. For a driver these are all conditions that complicate life. The whole team regrets today. We are convinced that without the red flag our result could be even better. Seeing the disappointed is a positive sign. We have always said that you need a mentality and a desire to always win. A step forward? Yes, we are happy with the performance, but it must only be a starting point. Good in qualifying compared to last year, good in the wet, good also in the dry, so we are happy. We have weaknesses but we know where to focus and work to solve them.” – he told Sky Sport F1.
Leave a Reply