Mattia Binotto points out Charles Leclerc strategy was ‘common sense’ like Hamilton’s in Abu Dhabi. Leclerc strategy was “common sense” like Hamilton’s in Abu Dhabi – Binotto.

Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has justified the Maranello team’s call not to bring Charles Leclerc into the pits under the Safety Car at the end of the British Grand Prix for a tyre change that most likely would have allowed him to take the race win at the Silverstone circuit.

The Italian side instead decided to pit second-placed Carlos Sainz but his teammate Charles Leclerc, who was leading the British Grand Prix and had a faster pace before the Safety Car was deployed in the final stages of the race due to a technical issues for Esteban Ocon, who had to stop his Alpine car o the main straight. As a result, Charles Leclerc lost not only the race win, but als a place on the podium, being overtaken by Carlos Sainz, who went on to take his first Formula 1 win, but also Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez, who were also running on fresh Soft tyres.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto felt “it was common sense to prioritise the lead car by protecting track positions” at that stage of the 2022 British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit – “There’s nothing unusual in this strategy, we always prioritise the lead car and therefore Charles in this situation. He was on fresher tyres at that point, and if he had pitted, our opponents would have done the exact opposite and gained track position on almost new hard tyres.” – he added.

“Just think of Lewis Hamilton at last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi when he stayed out on track,” he added. In the final round of the 2021 Formula 1 championship, Mercedes decided not to pit Lewis Hamilton from the lead during a late Safety Car period, a call that cost them when the race was unexpectedly restarted in a manner which did not fully conform with the regulations – “At the same time we decided to put Carlos on the opposite strategy in order to cover all opportunities. If we wouldn’t have done that split strategy, we would have risked losing the race and handing the win to our opponents.” – Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto concluded in an interview for the Italian media on Monday.

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