Ferrari’s Singapore Grand Prix ends with a second place for by Charles Leclerc and a third place for Carlos Sainz, after the stewards confirmed just one five-second time penalty for Sergio Perez, despite the fact that the Red Bull driver dropped too far back from the Safety Car three times.
The Maranello team, which in Singapore hoped to break Red Bull’s series of victories, leaves the Marina Bay track with a hint of disappointment for a result that was below expectations.
At the end of a very long, intense and full of twists race, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was interviewed by Sky Sport F1 HD and expressed his point of view not only on the Sergio Perez matter but also to analyze the race of his two drivers:
“Sergio Perez was called to discuss not one but two infringements,” explained Mattia Binotto. “On the occasion of two different safety cars, he made the same mistake, ie being too far from the car. If I look at similar cases, like Giovinazzi in 2020, the driver was punished with 5 seconds and I believe that the sporting regulations impose a penalty of 5 seconds, 10 or a drive through “.
The fact that the decision was not taken immediately was partially justified by Mattia Binotto. The Ferrari team principal, however, wanted to underline how this choice also influenced Charles Leclerc’s management of the final part of the race.
“We are sorry that the decision did not come during the race because this delay affected not only the podium but also the management of the race itself because Charles, in an attempt to stay close to Perez, inevitably wore his tires. I guess the stewards want to understand from the driver and the team what prompted him to drive differently. Maybe they didn’t want to rush a decision and possibly make a mistake. This is why they took their time ” – he added.
Mattia Binotto then explained why the Monegasque had a bad start from pole position and was immediately overtaken by Sergio Perez. At the same time, the Ferrari boss wanted to praise the work done by the Ferrari strategists in Singapore:
“What is regrettable today is Charles’ race start. He had a great reaction time, but when he started going on the accelerator he found little grip and this resulted in the rear wheels spinning and losing momentum towards the first corner. In the pit slipt in front, but I don’t think this mistake influenced the outcome of the race that much. Today our car went well and Charles did well too. I believe that even as a pit wall we have made the right decisions. We were among the first to mount slicks at a time when the track was not perfectly dry, but with this choice we pushed Sergio Perez to stop and we tried to change the fate of the race”.
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The team principal of the Maranello team later explained the difficulties experienced by Carlos Sainz, but he looked at the glass half full pointed to a good total of points secured at the end of a complicated race.
“Carlos had a good start, but then his race was difficult. He didn’t feel the car well, he didn’t have confidence and didn’t push hard. Having said that, we got a good total of points.”
In the end, Mattia Binotto underlined the excellent work done by the team in a weekend made complicated by the few laps covered on Friday and did not hide his disappointment for a lost victory: “Overall it was a very difficult weekend. We didn’t run much on Friday, we fine-tuned the car with little data but the car performed well in both dry and wet conditions.” – he concluded – “More than angry I am disappointed because we have been looking for victory for some time, we need it. I think we deserved it this weekend. I’m sorry for the final result“
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