Carlos Sainz claimed his first victory in Formula 1 last Sunday at the British Grand Prix, defeating teammate Charles Leclerc after the restart of the race that had been stopped by the appearance of a safety car.
At that time, Ferrari called the Spanish driver to the pits to fit him some new soft tires and left the Monegasque, who was the race leader, on the track with a set of worn hard tires to try to take advantage of his position.
Leclerc was visibly disappointed after the race and was seen speaking to Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto shortly after crossing the checkered flag, quickly creating controversy over a possible split within the team.
A report published by Italian media and written by a former Ferrari press officer, claimed that some team members refused to attend the podium ceremony and group photo at Silverstone after Sainz ‘s victory due to their frustration with Leclerc. .
In response to a question from Motorsport.com about the report, Binotto confirmed that this was untrue, saying he had checked himself with the team that it had not happened.
“It wasn’t true,” said the Swiss. “When I heard it or read it, [I was] surprised. What I did was check it out, because you never know, maybe there was something I had missed. But I checked it out and it wasn’t the case, not at all.”
“[I’m] surprised and once again disappointed that I have to read things that are sometimes written that don’t accurately tell what is, or in this case, was going on.”
“Yes, the team was not entirely happy at the time because we missed a big opportunity because of the safety car. But we were very happy for Carlos [Sainz] who won his first race at Silverstone and had a fantastic weekend starting from pole”.
“The whole team was there, cheering for Carlos. So there is no problem about that.”
Television cameras showed footage of Binotto speaking to Leclerc right after the race at Silverstone, in which he appeared to be waving at the driver.
The Monegasque revealed earlier this week that Binotto had flown to Monaco before traveling to Austria to meet, have dinner and talk more about it, but explained that it is “something they usually do”.
Leclerc also denied there was any talk of a possible split within Ferrari , stating that the team was “extremely united.”
Binotto explained that the meeting in Monaco was “the best opportunity” he had to see the pilot before arriving in Austria, and that during dinner they laughed at the reports explained above.
“We had dinner and laughed together at what we read in the newspapers, because we knew it was completely false,” said the Ferrari manager.
“We discuss and try to move on, improve, trying to be constructive to be better prepared for whatever scenario comes our way in the following races.”
The Monegasque explained on Thursday that the Maranello team boss was “quite angry” after seeing his mood after the Silverstone race, but also said he was sympathetic to his emotions.
“When he was going to the interviews and I was going to the podium, I saw him so disappointed that I told him that he shouldn’t [be like this], that he should have a smile on his face, because he’s a fantastic driver, he’s a champion,” he explained. Binotto .
“At Silverstone he showed once again how good he is, he had an incredible race, not only behind the safety car protecting the position as best he could, but also because of the way he drove with a damaged car throughout the race.
“He should have a smile, because although he has been unlucky once again, there will be races where he can show that he is a great driver and that he can win,” concluded the Ferrari driver .
