The feeling was that of a step backwards compared to the last few outings, but Ferrari has approached the goal of third place in the Constructors’ World Championship also in Qatar. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had to settle for a seventh and an eighth place, but the concomitant puncture of Lando Norris in the final allowed the men in Red to bring the margin against McLaren to 39.5 points. An enviable gap two races from the end of the season.
But it is not only for this reason that the glass is half full for team principal Mattia Binotto, who is satisfied with the growth seen in terms of tire wear management compared to the French Grand Prix. He also appreciated the work done by the whole team, including the drivers, in a situation that was not easy.
“I would not say that it was a weekend below expectations, even if it is clear that a seventh and an eighth place is not what we are aiming for. But we knew that this is a track on which we would suffer tire wear as we had already happened to Paul Ricard. But I think we have learned to manage it better than we did in France, “Binotto told Sky Sport F1 HD.
“From the first lap we asked the drivers not to push to try to make a single stop. They really held back and never pushed, both at the beginning with the medium and after the stop with the hard ones. Only ten did it. laps from the end, when we were sure we could go all the way. If we look at others who pushed and then punctured, I’d say it worked. It’s clear that the car has a wear problem, but I think the team does. has been able to manage and this is a positive aspect, “he added.
Today we also witnessed a double pit stop, with the two cars returning in the same lap. Even in this case, however, the team fared quite well according to the team principal.
“I guess there was a communication problem with Carlos, because otherwise he could have stood in front of Stroll and maybe even attacked Ocon at the end. Once this problem with the radio was removed, the guys handled this situation very well too, after three consecutive races. and with the tiredness on him, also due to a change of chassis which took place between last night and this morning. I would say that today the team and the drivers did a great job, what is missing now is a car fast enough to compete for better positions “.
In the final, Leclerc had asked for an exchange of positions with Sainz to try to attack Stroll and Ocon who preceded the two Reds, but Binotto explained why he was not given the green light: “Charles tried to ask us via radio, but in reality at that stage we were managing the tires in order not to find ourselves or risk of a puncture as others have done “.
Although he was only 13th on the grid, he does not think it would be an advantage to fit a fresh power unit to the Monegasque: “It would have been irrelevant for us. We introduced this development a few races ago. It is reliable and does not degrade in performance with mileage. so there was no reason to replace the power unit. In fact, if we did, Charles would not have made eighth place. “
Now then there is the curiosity to go and discover the new track in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in two weeks: “It will be a very fast track and it will run even with low load, therefore with very high top speeds. different track, very difficult to interpret and very fast, so we are all very curious to go there, “he concluded.
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