Charles Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty a few minutes after crossing the checkered flag after Race Direction found he had exceeded the speed limit in the pitlane when he pitted at the end of lap 42.
The penalty caused the Monegasque to fall from fifth to sixth position, behind Fernando Alonso. The decision to re-enter the pits was a gamble by Ferrari to try and score the bonus point for the fastest lap, but Leclerc fell six tenths of a second off the fastest lap, also the work of Max Verstappen.
The #16 took blame for exceeding the speed limit in the pitlane, but Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto revealed a sensor failure stemming from a visor plastic getting stuck in the front right brake duct of the single-seater meant that the measurements were probably wrong.
“He was very, very on the edge,” the Prancing Horse manager said after the race when asked by Motorsport.com about the decision to call Leclerc into the pits at that point in the race, with just two laps to go.
“We weren’t using our normal speed measurement sensors because they had failed after the front right had overheated due to the plastic in Max [Verstappen’s] visor, so our system at the time was maybe not that accurate. .
“I think that, in general, it has been an unfortunate situation. That is not why we were going to stop making decisions and be brave, when the conditions are right to go for the fastest lap, you have to go.”
The stewards found that Leclerc had exceeded the 80km/h limit in the pitlane by 1km/h, triggering the five-second penalty.
That was certainly another setback for Leclerc and Ferrari on a Sunday in which their title hopes were once again dealt a serious blow after Verstappen rallied from 14th to victory, extending his championship lead to 98. points on Monegasque.
Binotto believes that Ferrari’s decision to call on Leclerc so he could try to score the extra point for the fastest lap was the right one.
“It was the opportunity to try and get the fastest lap, and there was room to go for it.”
“I think it was the right call, we knew he was going to be very close to Fernando [coming out of the pits]. But we also knew he could overtake him again because he had fresher tires and together with the DRS and top speed on the straight main, I could do it. Once again, I think it was the right decision.”
Ferrari have suffered quite a few setbacks with their strategies this season, and at the Spa race, Leclerc asked his engineer several times over the radio about them. But Binotto believes there was “no need” to rethink the team’s ideas after their discussions of different strategy options.
“Obviously you always have to try to improve and there are lessons we’ve learned that we’re looking at internally,” Binotto said. “But if I look back I think there are a lot of perceptions from the outside compared to what is the truth and reality, I think sometimes we haven’t made a mistake when it may have been perceived as a mistake.”
“Looking at it from today’s point of view, I think the decision to call him into the pits was the right decision. You have to be brave in Formula 1,” he concluded.
