Binotto: “Maybe we should take more risks”

If the Team Ferrari now seems to have the best car on the field, the Italian team is still struggling to prevent Mercedes to reap successes. If she had the advantage at the start of the race last weekend at the Mexican GP, Lewis Hamilton took the lead by completing a very long second stint on hard tires which worked surprisingly well in the race. The poleman Charles Leclerc was unable to fight while playing a two-stop strategy unlike his teammate Sebastian Vettel who only made one trip through the pits.

Maranello Team Principal Mattia Binotto looked back on his team's choices which did not work in the face of Mercedes' bold strategy.

“We made the final decision by leaving Seb on the track, recognized the Italian. We were in “attack” mode because it was the best chance to have the opportunity to make our choices later in the race. Being behind Hamilton, the best thing to do was to stay on track taking advantage of tires in better condition to hope to make the difference at the end of the race. »

The head of the Italian clan admitted that the performance of the tires was one of the surprises of the race which smiled on the rival Mercedes team.

“We realized it very latehe said. It was still too early to just make one stop when Charles stopped. It would have been too risky. The bet they made was the right one. They took risks to win and they deserve the credit. Maybe we should take more risks, but it's hard to judge. It's easy to answer after the race, added Mattia Binotto. We certainly didn't expect the tires to hold up this well after testing on Friday and Saturday. We need to study this and understand the reason. I think everyone was a little surprised because it was a gamble for those who stopped early. I don't believe that was their first intention. »

Ferrari has not won since the Singapore GP won by Sebastian Vettel last September.

Discover the analysis of the Mexican GP carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2240 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.