Mattia Binotto: "Charles is a champion, no one will ever question him. There are still 10 races, let's win them!"

Mattia Binotto: “Charles is a champion, no one will ever question him. There are still 10 races, let’s win them!”

Post-race Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto shared his thoughts with Sky Sports F1, discussed Charles Leclerc’s issue and spoke about how they move forwards after the disappointing outcome of the 2022 French Grand Prix:

“It’s just a mistake, it happens, in the same way we have reliability issues. I think what I said to Charles was that we make our lives a bit more difficult, but we will enjoy it more in the future if we turn it round. It was a genuine a driver error. (The talk about) the throttle was about when he put it in reverse and tried to move back from the barriers. Certainly there is always something to improve and learn in our approach. Step by step I think we progressing and becoming better. Once again today we have proved that we have a fast car, a very competitive one, and we need to turn the page and look to Hungary. We can do a one-two there, why not? So simple we need to focus on the next result.” – the Ferrari boss said, in his interview for Sky Sports F1

“We have lost points in various ways [technical etc.], not just today’s mistake. Charles is a champion no one will ever question him. He is already with the engineers and we have a very competitive car. I talked to him, and he told me the same thing. And I don’t agree, we lost many points in other ways and we will gain others. But we must look at what we can achieve, not at the points lost. There are still 10 races, let’s try to win them.” – Mattia Binotto continued.

Have you found problems with the throttle?
Mattia Binotto: “No no, what he said about with the throttle had nothing to do with the mistake. He tried to put the reverse, but there is a sort of protection, very complex stuff, he didn’t feel torque. It’s not a problem, it’s how it works. In terms of tyre deg, we were better than Red Bull, with Max having problems after 15 laps. The car is very strong, and Carlos showed it. Let’s turn page, discussing a mistake from a champion like him, it doesn’t make sense. “We trust him, Charles is already there with the engineers, we checked the data of his race pace and Charles was smiling. So, that’s the strength of a champion who knows how to turn page.” – the Ferrari boss concluded.