Binotto owns up to his tactical blunder: “We took too many risks”

Some of you have noted the strange concordance between our debriefing devoted to a lesson in strategy offered by Scuderia Ferrari and the debacle of the Italian team a few hours later during qualifying in Monaco on Saturday. Far be it from us to ridicule the performance of the Reds, here is the explanation offered by Mattia Binotto to journalists present in the Principality. 

“We made a mistake”, he admits at the outset, quoting Charles Lecler's 16th timec. “It’s a bad judgment, a bad calculation of what we call the “cut off time” (time limit. Editor’s note). This time limit is the threshold at which we believe we are safe to move into the next session. The time limit is calculated in real time, based on what we see on the track, in each sector of all the drivers.

When the time limit is calculated, we usually add a safety margin, continues the director of the Team. The margin is sufficient to contain tolerance and uncertainty, which often happens in a session. What happened (yesterday), the margin was certainly insufficient. »

How Charles Leclerc's qualifying unravelled#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/jSv0SXkGNP

— Formula 1 (@F1) 25th May 2019

Certainly, but then, how can we explain that Charles Leclerc did not restart at the end of Q1, when all the drivers had returned to the track to improve their time? “Two reasons for this, explains the Swiss. First of all, the track greatly improved at the end of Q1. Secondly, probably our margin did not sufficiently consider the evolution of the drivers because of their confidence in driving here. 

In Monaco, this margin will have to be increased in the future, that's for sure. We could reply that at Ferrari, there are mistakes that should not occur. I think that at Ferrari we have to make up points in the championship. When you're in the hunter's position, you have to take risks. Take the margin (yesterday), this meant using a new set of tires (tender) », justifies Mattia Binotto.

By betting on preserving a set of soft tires, Ferrari ruined Charles Leclerc's chances of pole position. “We would have run out of tires for Q2 and Q3. » What about suspicions regarding a possible advantage given to Sebastian Vettel to the detriment of Charles Leclerc?

" No way. We have two full teams, one per driver. We make no compromise between the two, assures the director of the Scuderia. The margin was identical for both drivers. Charles asked from his cockpit "Should I go out?" I think it's a bit too extreme, we could be in danger. » We said, “No, we have all the data, we think that’s enough.” " This was not the case, reveals Mattia Binotto. 

“We took too many risks, which were unnecessary in such a situation. This is bad judgment. And bad judgment is a mistake. » Mattia Binotto refuses to cast the first stone at any particular individual. " We have the right people and the right procedures, but we need to improve our tools. 

Today, it opens up new opportunities to look at what we have accomplished and how it could be done differently in the future. It is something that will be resolved in the next race, without a doubt. » It would have been preferable not to make this mistake during testing, especially in Monaco…