Mattia Binotto defends Carlos Sainz amid Suzuka crash: "Race should have started behind Safety Car"

Mattia Binotto defends Carlos Sainz amid Suzuka crash: “Race should have started behind Safety Car”. Mattia Binotto defends Carlos amid Suzuka crash.

Carlos Sainz’s Japanese Sunday was one to forget. The Ferrari driver, who started from third place after being just half a tenth behind Max Verstappen’s pole position time in the qualifying session on Saturday, was forced to retire after a few corners in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

His F1-75 car suffered from aquaplaning during the first lap on the wet Suzuka track, then crashing into the protective barriers and forcing the Ferrari #55 to immediately retire from the Japanese Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz then experienced moments of pure terror as after the impact against the outer walls of the circuit his Ferrari sent him back on track, before the rest of the field filed past him – with a red flag eventually pulled to clear up the mess.

In the post-race interviews, the Spanish driver clearly expressed the fear he felt, saying he “trusted in God” in those scary moments. After the race, team principal Mattia Binotto defended Carlos Sainz, who was criticized by some fans for being the only one of the leading drivers to spin during the first, frantic, lap of the Suzuka race. According to the Ferrari team principal, in fact, the retirement of Carlos Sainz was caused more by bad luck than by a real mistake. Mattia Binotto also questioned the decision of the race direction to start the Japan Grand Prix a standing start, underlining how a start behind the Safety Car – as happened hours later, at the time of the restart – would have been a better solution for the safety of the drivers.

“I spoke briefly with Carlos Sainz – said Mattia Binotto during his interview for Sky Sport F1 – he was surprised by the low level of grip. He lost his car without warning, in aquaplaning. The situation was either unfortunate for him, or lucky for those who didn’t spin around him. Then he bounced around the track with other drivers arriving fast and didn’t see what was happening. These are very critical and unsafe situations. The best thing would have been to start the race behind the Safety Car and evaluate together with the drivers what to do, as happened at was in the restart.” – Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto concluded at the end of the Suzuka event.