The controversy took hold of the Maranello garage in the final moments of the 2022 Formula 1 British Grand Prix, and that is that its two drivers were in front, with many options to reap a new double, which would have been the 86th in its long history. However, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz went with totally different strategies, because Ferrari decided to enter only with the Spaniard in the pits to mount a fresh game of soft, leaving the Monegasque at the mercy of the rest of the rivals, who copied the Madrilenian to try get on the podium
Everything ended with Sainz’s first victory in the highest category of motorsport and with Leclerc in fourth place, after Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton overtook him, but there was no lack of controversy on the radio in which the Italians asked the Spanish driver leave a gap with respect to your partner. The one who would ultimately be the winner refused, and although he seemed to disobey, the Italian team denied that it was so.
When team boss Mattia Binotto was asked about it, he replied: “Carlos [Sainz] wasn’t ignoring the team, he made it clear to us that he had to protect himself from pressure from behind and in doing so he was protecting our goal to stay ahead.
“As a group, we fully appreciate it, and we were all in the same direction,” he said. “Without this inside information, it seems that Carlos is not a team player, but a few laps earlier he changed position without any hesitation or complaint, clearly showing that he puts Ferrari first.”
The soft tires gave Sainz the ideal opportunity to overtake Leclerc in the final laps and win the race, and the Maranello boss explained why they followed that strategy: “At that time, it was common sense to give priority to the leading car, protecting track positions. There is nothing unusual about this strategy, we always prioritize the car in front and therefore Charles [Leclerc] in this situation.”
“He was on younger tyres, and if he had pitted, our rivals would have done the exact opposite, and gained track position on nearly new hard tyres. Just think of Lewis Hamilton in last year’s season finale at Abu Dhabi, when he stayed on the track,” recalled the Ferrari boss.
“At the same time, we decided to go with Carlos with the opposite strategy to cover all possibilities. If we hadn’t done that split, we would have risked losing the race and handing it over to our rivals,” Binotto said.
Insisting on the issue of possible radio orders , the Swiss indicated that during the early stages of the race, when Leclerc was faster chasing Sainz, it was still too early to decide.
“It wasn’t necessary to do it at the time, and there was still plenty of time to make that decision, our priority is always to maximize the situation to get the best result for the team,” said Binotto. “Only when this objective is threatened should we act. We did it during the second stint, we swapped cars when Carlos wasn’t fast enough and our rivals were catching up with us.”
After getting out of the car, Charles Leclerc was disappointed with the result, but his team principal wanted to put out the small fire created by strategic decisions: “Of course I can understand his frustration. When you comfortably lead a race with few laps end and you don’t win, it’s only natural that you feel disappointed.
“But Charles’s disappointment is also ours, we win together and we lose together,” he said. “We are just as frustrated as he is about his result, because the way he drove was incredible, and he showed once again how strong he is, he deserved to win, if it hadn’t been for the safety car.
Leaving behind the joy with Sainz and the discomfort of his Monegasque teammate, Binotto remains focused on what will come before the summer: “There are three more challenging races before the holidays, and as Silverstone showed, each grand prix this year is absolutely unpredictable. We will make sure we have our cars up to the challenge and we will present ourselves as a strong team.”
