A win for Sainz, a defeat for Ferrari. Thus, the British GP can be summed up for the Scuderia. Charles Leclerc was left frustrated at Silverstone after another missed opportunity, and was scolded by team boss Mattia Binotto in front of the cameras. “I can’t hide my disappointment.”
Ferrari booked its first victory since the Australian GP at the beginning of April, but was not allowed to celebrate Charles Leclerc, but teammate Carlos Sainz was allowed to celebrate. Not ideal if the Scuderia wants to make the World Cup battle even more exciting.
Leclerc, who had an excellent chance to catch up with 19 points from World Cup leader Max Verstappen, had to settle for 4th place and only made up 6 points on his Dutch rival.
And that could have gone differently. On lap 37 at Silverstone, the safety car had to go out after Esteban Ocon’s breakdown. The entire top 6 were promptly called to the pit lane for new tires, except… race leader Leclerc.
The Monegask was – on its worn tires – an easy prey for the hunters on fresh, soft tires. Sainz had no pity for his teammate at the restart and blasted to his first victory of his F1 career.
Another Ferrari blunder? “We thought there was not enough space for both cars to stop,” said team boss Mattia Binotto.
We thought there was not enough space to stop both cars.
Leclerc was therefore not pleased with Ferrari’s tactics afterwards. The Monegasque was seething and did not hide his displeasure. “The amount of time we lost in this race… Oh my god,” he grumbled.
“Carlos win is the only good thing that happened today… Unbelievable.”
Before Leclerc could do any more damage, he was pulled aside by team boss Binotto. The Italian scolded his poulain in front of the Sky Sports camera. “Whatever you do, don’t criticize the team,” commentators heard Binotto say.
However, the criticism was justified, as Ferarri forgot to make important decisions at Silverstone. While Red Bull has already sidelined Sergio Perez for Max Verstappen several times this season, the Scuderia refuses to give Leclerc the same preferential treatment.
Even at the start of the race, Leclerc was faster than his Spanish team mate, despite a damaged front wing. But Ferrari did not intervene.
It is not the first time that Ferrari has failed in the World Cup battle. Leclerc was therefore “very, very disappointed”. That is why he went to talk to Binotto about the approach.
“We could have changed tires but I had to stay on the track,” said Leclerc. “So I did that too. Then it became a difficult story.”
“Even with damage I took part for the win. It’s a shame that it didn’t work out again. This is a big disappointment, I can’t hide that.”
“But I don’t want the focus to be on my disappointment, but also on Sainz’s victory. That first win is always very special. This is a very nice result for him, but very disappointing for me.”
I don’t want the focus to be on my disappointment, but also on Sainz’s victory.
He proved once again at the end of the race that Ferrari might be better off taking Leclerc’s card in full. The 25-year-old Monegask pulled off an astonishing overtaking maneuver with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Copse Corner.
“That was fun,” Leclerc said with a grin. “The last part of the race was very difficult, everywhere on the limit. It was also necessary to defend my position. I don’t think I could have done better.”
“I now have to analyze with the team what we could have done better. It’s difficult to comment if you don’t have the full picture.”
Ferrari does not have much time to align its tactics, because the next race is already scheduled in Austria next weekend.
