Ferrari F1 team principal Mattia Binotto says the FIA should have done a better job with the safety car at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.
Sunday’s race at the Monza circuit ended behind the safety car after a series of circumstances left no time for a restart.
Daniel Ricciardo’s (McLaren) car stopped on the side of the track with six laps to go and the safety car was brought in, but there should have been plenty of time to restart the race.
However, Daniel Ricciardo’s car stopped in gear, which took longer than expected for the marshals to recover. In addition, the safety car pulled ahead of George Russell (Mercedes), who was running third instead of race leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull), causing an even greater delay in lining up behind Verstappen. .
With Max Verstappen behind the safety car and the lapped cars regaining a lap as the rules dictated, there were not enough laps left to restart the race on the next lap.
The disappointment of fans around the world when the race ended behind the safety car led to bookings from Tifosi, prompting F1 to red flag the race to ensure the race could resume under such circumstances. There were also calls for reconsideration.
But Mattia Binotto, who saw Charles Leclerc miss an opportunity in the late shootout with Max Verstappen, said the rules worked and that the failure at Monza was entirely on the FIA. .
“I don’t think it was a rule-changing issue,” said Mattia Binotto.
“The rules have been much debated, especially after Abu Dhabi last year.
“They have been discussed with the FIA, the FIA and the teams and have come to the conclusion that it is probably appropriate to keep the current format, so I don’t think it is an issue with the current regulations.”
“We’re certainly disappointed with how long it took to make a decision and we don’t understand why it took so long to release the car between the safety car and the underside. think”
It took several laps before Daniel Ricciardo’s car was cleared, but Mattia Binotto said he didn’t understand why the platoon hadn’t come together sooner.
“I don’t think safety is a valid reason for the delay,” said Mattia Binotto.
“There are minimum lap times set by the regulations, so drivers cannot simply go flat out on the track when they are released.”
“And this minimum lap time is there to ensure that the driver does it perfectly when he runs and drives. So what we don’t understand is what we believe is right now. regulations and why it took them so long to decide.”
When asked if he accepted the FIA’s explanation that the race could not be restarted because Daniel Ricciardo’s car was stuck, Mattia Binotto said: “I accept that, I understand it could have been complicated. I am,” commented.
“Nevertheless, I think we could have done a better job paralleling that to line up the cars for the new start of the race, and that didn’t happen.”
“I simply think it was wrong and could have been done better, without changing the regulations. The regulations are in place and it’s just a matter of applying them in a better way.”
Mattia Binotto said his belief in the safety car was that he believed it had nothing to do with Charles Leclerc’s missed chances of winning and ultimately made the show less interesting.
“I think they need to do a better job for F1, the show,” said Mattia Binotto.
“Not for Ferrari and Tifosi. How would the race have ended if the safety car had ended earlier? I don’t know.”
“Max was still the fastest car and had new tyres, but in general let’s get the safety car over as soon as possible to give all drivers more track and race time. I think we should strive to
“The disappointing thing about today is how long it took them to decide. I think they[the FIA]didn’t do a good job today in that regard. It’s not good for F1. So they have to do a better job in the future.”
