Mattia Binotto admits Scuderia Ferrari made ‘a few poor decisions’ during Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, which meant the team failed to convert their one-two starting positions into a victory.
Charles Leclerc started on pole position and lead the initial stages, but strategy calls meant the Monegasque racer slipped back to fourth. Initially, he fell behind eventual winner Sergio Pérez when switching from full wet tyres to intermediates, but then he fell behind team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. and the second Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 of Max Verstappen when making the switch to dry tyres.
Sainz was adamant to ignore the strategy calls made by the pit wall during the race, with the Spaniard opting to rather pit for intermediates, wait a few more laps to go directly to slick tyres, and this gamble could have paid off had he not encountered traffic on his out-lap that allowed Pérez to take over at the front.
Binotto, the Team Principal at Ferrari, says the team will be looking to learn from their mistakes in Monaco before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix gets underway in two weeks’ time.
“When you start with your two cars on the front row and you don’t win, it means something went wrong from our side,” said Binotto.
“I think we made a few poor decisions and we paid the price. I am sorry for Charles, because it’s his home race, so it was particularly important for him, as indeed it was for all of us.
“There were other elements that affected today’s result, such as the traffic that both our drivers encountered when they re-joined the track after their pit stops, a factor that probably cost Carlos the win.
“Mistakes can happen, but it’s important to learn from them and take it as an opportunity to improve. Over the next few days, we will analyse this race in detail, as part of our preparation for the upcoming back-to-back races in Azerbaijan and Canada.”