Ferrari’s team boss has spoken out since a controversial mid-race decision to favour Carlos Sainz over Charles Leclerc caught the attention of spectators and reporters.
It was clear from publicised team radio clips that Leclerc was becoming frustrated during the British GP after first being held up by a technically slower teammate and later was kept out during the late safety car.
Questions began flooding in due to how crucial a victory on Sunday would have been in the Monegasque driver’s championship fight – a result he could hardly reach on old rubber.
Defending the team’s strategy decision, Team Principal, Mattia Binotto said: “We didn’t think we had enough space between the two cars to stop both of them, so we had to make a choice between the first and the second car.
“We decided to stop Carlos in P2 because Charles had got the track position. He was leading and remained the leader of the race at that time. You don’t know what the others would have done if you’d stopped as a leader.”
This is not the first time Leclerc has suffered in a 2022 race as a result of Ferrari team decisions, however, while speaking later on Sunday, the 24-year-old was not afraid to voice his frustration.
“My side, I feel like I lost a little bit,” he said.
“This is only my view, and it might change once I see the full picture.”
Leclerc was the fastest driver several times throughout Sunday’s main event, and despite damage from early collisions he said: “I had old hard tyres and everyone around was on softs, so I was struggling massively.
“I gave my absolute best. It wasn’t enough and it’s obviously disappointing.”
Despite his own disappointment, Leclerc took to social media to congratulate his Spanish teammate on his first win in Formula One.
Well done to @Carlossainz55 on realizing a childhood dream, you deserve it mate.
On my side, I’m incredibly disappointed. Damaged car in lap 1 but we were flying. Great fights on track but I couldn’t do much more having old tyres at the end of the race.— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) July 3, 2022
