Leclerc And Binotto
Leclerc And Binotto
To say that Ferrari has ruined a good number of Charles Leclerc’s races is a big understatement at this point of the race. So one can understand if Charles has let his emotions get the best of him from time to time. But it seems as though Ferrari have had enough of Charles’s bad mouthing of the team to the press, this was made apparent when cameras caught Ferrari’s team boss Mattia Binotto finger wagging and seemingly scolding Charles after the British Grand Prix.
The other members of the team are also feeling the pressure from Charles as only few members of the team came and celebrated with Carlos Sainz at the podium last Sunday? So what is happening within the team? Well, you’re going to have to stick around to find out. But before we get to it, consider subscribing as we’ve just uploaded 5 times out of the past 5 days just to keep you guys updated on the latest happenings in the F1 space. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to it.
As we all can remember, all of Charles’s frustrations started in his home race in Monaco where the Monegasque had the opportunity of a lifetime to win his home race in front of his hometown for the first time. But all of these would be thrown away by a misjudged decision by Mattia and his engineers. After that, a succession of reliability issues for the team Charles lose his drivers championship lead to his rival, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
And it seems as though Charles has reach his breaking point this past weekend at Silverstone where Charles would have had the golden opportunity to climb back up the standings if the team had chosen to prioritize his race over Sainz. And cue the finger-wagging scene between Mattia and Charles that we’ve all seen countless times by now. After that moment, Charles would be asked about what Mattia had said to him in that moment.
And to Charles’s credit, he would have better control of his emotions and say that Mattia was only trying to cheer him up. But this past week, Mattia was seen privately visiting Charles in Monaco which again sparked rumors that Ferrari may be crumbling at the seams. But when Charles was asked about what happened in their meeting, he would reply with:
“This is untrue and I wish I didn’t get this [question], because it’s the exact question that I’ve got everywhere else. I wish I wouldn’t need to fight for this type of thing. We are extremely united. Is there disappointment after the last race because we finished first and fourth? Yes there was. Were we very happy that Carlos won his first race? Yes we were, honestly. But obviously before the safety car you were first and second and you finished the race first and fourth so there’s some kind of disappointment too. He was first quite angry with me after Silverstone because he saw me extremely down which obviously he understood but he just wanted to make sure that I was OK,” Leclerc said. And I realised that OK, I had done an amazing job considering the situation that I had found myself in after the safety car.”
Mattia would also receive the same questions about the incident at Silverstone, to which he would reply with:
“I always cheer my friends up with a good finger wag. It’s a tough race for him. He broke his wing on the first lap of the race in turn four with Checo, but he had good pace still. He was pushing his team-mate round and in the end they swapped them over, gave him the lead, but the bad pitstop call at the end there with the Safety Car. It’s happened again, there’s the same thing in Monaco. So it’s tricky. I don’t know whose decision it was but obviously that cost him the victory.”
So that clears up what happened between the two. But the next shocking thing remains unanswered, why were there so few Ferrari staff members that came to celebrate with Carlos Sainz in his maiden win in F1. Charles would be asked about about this to which he would reply with:
“I think half of the team that stayed on the picture missed the plane to go back home, it was quite tricky. We wanted to do a first picture but Carlos was not here so we had to delay everything, But, there’s no hard feelings whatsoever.”
But a former Ferrari press officer believes that wasn’t what truly happened in the garage as Alberto Atonini received word from trusted source that the staff initially did not want to celebrate the race win. In his words:
“I have been told – and I trust the source – an ugly episode that occurred in the immediate aftermath of the Silverstone race. Part of the Ferrari staff allegedly refused, at least initially, to attend the podium ceremony and photo op. If true, as I fear, this is not a good sign. A little healthy rivalry inside the garage is fine, it is fine for each mechanic and each technician to cheer for ‘his’ driver, but the common interest must be to aim to win.”
We can all agree that how F1 teams are setup are a bit weird than conventional team setups in other sports. Correct me if I’m wrong but F1 may be the only sport that I can think of as I’m making this that has teammates compete each other at the same time. Now mix in a bit of ego that every athlete or sports figure has, and you get fireworks. But again, it seems as Charles has received a bit more PR training as he would be asked about whether or not the team still intends to let them freely battle each other. And to this he would reply with:
“It’s more Mattia to ask these type of questions. I feel the support of the team. Of course in the last few races it hasn’t gone my way for whatever reasons. But yeah I still feel the support of the team.”
Charles would also reveal that the team has already adjusted its operational procedures in reaction to the lost win saying:
As a team we have changed already a few things just in the way of the communication throughout the race to be ready in that particular moment,” Leclerc explained. “Because once the Safety Car is out then you need to take a decision there and if you’re not ready for that, then it is tricky. So as a team we have changed a few things and I won’t go too much in detail.”
While that is how Charles’s side of the garage is going. Over at Sainz’s side, the Spaniard is feeling no remorse for the decision he made and one may argue that there isn’t any reason for him to do so. Sainz would be asked if he thinks he made the right call, to which he would reply with:
“Well, Ferrari won, I won, so for sure it was not the wrong decision,” he said. “I think at that time, in the car I knew perfectly what I had to do. I knew not to put Charles in a compromised position, but also to give Ferrari a race win – that is what the team cares the most about and I think everything I did was sensible. didn’t put Charles under unnecessary risk or pressure while overtaking him, knowing that I was going to overtake him fairly easily on the soft. I won the race for Ferrari and I think it was a good outcome in the end. So yes, I would have done it the same again and I think the team perfectly understood my position – that’s why they didn’t call again for the 10 car lengths because they knew that what I had argued during the radio comment was totally valid.”
Sainz would also be asked if there was any growing animosity between him and Charles, to which he would reply with:
Like always, he behaved like the gentleman that he is and the briefing was normal. The way it goes when I have a bad race is [it’s] a normal briefing and the way it goes when he has a bad race, it’s also a normal briefing. It’s one of the strong points that we have as team mates and as drivers, and as a team spirit that we have in Ferrari.”
Coming into Austria this weekend, the team will look to bag another win and close down on Red Bull’s lead in the championship, and for Charles it’ll be another chance to get close to Max in the drivers standings. “I love this track,” said Leclerc. “We’ve been competitive in the past.
It’s a track that reminds me a little bit of the karting days, a very short track. “I really hope we can be competitive. We’ve been competitive in the past but I just hope that now we have a clean weekend and that we finally get can get on top of our things.”
And there you have it guys, but what do you think? Will this be the start of a more peaceful atmosphere at Ferrari? Or will another mess up from the team enrage Charles or even Carlos? Let us know in the comment section below, and as always don’t forget to like and subscribe to the channel if you haven’t!
