Can a victory be considered a missed opportunity? The insane Silverstone Grand Prix proved that it is possible. The protagonist, once again, is Scuderia Ferrari. Who won with Carlos Sainz, yes, but basically did not allow Charles Leclerc to take full advantage of the opportunity to reduce the gap from Max Verstappen in the standings at the end of the 2022 British Grand Prfx. The blame goes to the strategy decisions of the final laps of the British Grand Prix, when Ferrari chose to pit just Carlos Sainz alone and not both drivers in the Safety Car period.
Team principal Mattia Binotto tried to explain the reasons behind the Maranello strategy:
“We are so happy for Carlos: his first victory and with Ferrari. He was consistent, and he got the maximum out of the car. We’re back to winning ways too. It’s important to do it again and here in England. We couldn’t double stack as the cars were too close. Carlos was behind and he would have lost too many positions. We picked Carlos to stop as Charles was leading, hoping Carlos would defend him. We expected softs to degrade faster. There is nothing to sort out in the team. We understood Charles’ disappointment, but he did a fantastic race, with great pace and defending. It is important to stay calm and focused. Carlos is always there until the end and takes every opportunity. The consistency is his strength. I am so happy for him. His first victory and with Ferrari, so it’s even better.” – the Ferrari boss said, at the end of the British Grand Prix.
When asked about Charles Leclerc’s race, Mattia Binotto added: “Obviously he wasn’t happy. I told him to calm down…I’ll talk to him again later. With Charles, it’s a lost opportunity to gain points on Max, but we have to look at the bright side: he was winning. Esteban Ocon could’ve placed his car elsewhere. So much today depended on external circumstances. But we still have to be satisfied. First of all he was winning with a few laps to go. Perhaps more could have been done, but the bitterness is the result of external circumstances. We were convinced there would be greater degradation of the soft in the last laps, which would allow Charles to be able to make up and regain lost positions. So it didn’t work out, but let’s be rational. It is not that at that moment we did things randomly.” – Mattia Binotto concluded.
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