Still resonates in Zandvoort the role of Ferrari. At the Dutch Grand Prix, which saw Dutchman Max Verstappen fly once more, the Italian team was more exposed than happy. Charles Leclerc’s third place was hardly a detail, because what really made an impact was the collapse of the team when he called Carlos Sainz to the pits and ruined his race. “My God”, was what was heard from the Spanish pilot following leaving the pit stop 13 seconds following entering. The criticism was devastating for the working group of the Prancing Horse. Nevertheless, Mattia Binottothe team leader, explained the case and supported his mechanics.
It all happened when the Italians wanted to mount medium tires on Sainz’s F1-75, but the rush played a trick on them, since they forgot the left rear wheel inside the box. The stoppage was over 13 seconds, and caused the Spaniard to drop several positions as he rejoined the track. After the race he asked the team boss, Mattia Binotto, regarding what happened in the pits and his answer was very clear: “Disaster”.
“At the first stop, what we did was know that Lewis [Hamilton] was preparing for a pit stop with which he might make a undercut [cuando un piloto entra a boxes para cambiar neumáticos y poner gomas nuevas antes que el conductor que tiene delante]. We tried to react to stay ahead of him, which was the best way to keep track position, because we knew he was very fast in the first stint of the career. When we saw the Mercedes pit crew at the in the pit lane we called our driver to come in but that was when he was in the last corner and it was too late for the mechanics to be readyBinotto explained. And he reinforced: “It was too late for us”.
I drive it Nico Rosbergwho works as a commentator for Sky TV, was highly critical, suggesting that Ferrari handled the situation worse than the teams in the junior categories. “Oh my gosh,” he said of Ferrari’s pit stops. And he continued: “Mattia Binotto keeps saying ‘No, no, we don’t need to make any changes, everything is fine’. When will the day come? It’s not possible, even the Formula 2 or Formula 3 teams do a better job of their strategy and pit stops than Ferrari. You go to the pits and there are no tires there in a normal race? At some point they really need to start making some changes”.
Binotto was aware of Rosberg’s words and did not hesitate to respond to the former Williams and Mercedes driver: “First, I think it is very easy to talk when you are away. [del paddock]. It is easy to criticize. We will not change people: that is my response to Rosberg. We have great people and it has been shown that the most important thing in sport is stability and that we make sure we improve day following day. It takes years and experience for every team to be up front, and I think there’s no reason why it should be any different for us.”
The Ferrari team boss insisted that it was a late call to the pits for Sainz and sent another message to Rosberg on this subject: “Yes, it was a very late call to react to Lewis [Hamilton]. But I know that he [Rosberg] he should also know because he’s an experienced driver, that it’s much easier to deal with those kinds of issues than performance.”
