Ferrari head into Formula 1’s summer break 97 points behind Red Bull at the top of the constructors’ championship after a strategy error sent Charles Leclerc crashing out in Hungary on Sunday.
Leclerc led midway through the race but faded to sixth after switching to a hard compound backfired and saw his pace drop. Team-mate Carlos Sainz also dropped out of contention for victory, eventually finishing fourth, while Ferrari complained of their pace struggles in the cooler conditions.
It marked the latest race in which Ferrari’s strategic calls came under the spotlight, but team boss Binoto denied any changes were needed in Maranello.
“It’s not a matter of bad luck and there’s nothing to change either,” Binotto said after Sunday’s race. “It’s always a matter of continuous learning and building, building experience, building skills.
“Today [Sunday], there is certainly something you should check out and find out why. But if I look again at the balance sheet from the first half of the season, there is no reason to change.
“I think we just have to deal with what was wrong today, we have to understand and then deal with it and come back competitive in the 12 races so far [before Hungary] and the reason why it cannot be so with the next.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75
Photo: Ferrari
Binotto claimed Ferrari did not have the speed to win in Hungary regardless of their strategy, but Leclerc was left baffled by the call to adjust hard.
The Monegasque driver eventually pitted for a third pit stop, which saw him drop to sixth, meaning the gap to Verstappen at the top of the F1 standings grew to 80 points.
Binotto was confident that Leclerc would be able to “rest and relax to come back even hungrier” after the summer break, helping Ferrari push forward and recover from their recent form.
“What a leader he is [key] to keep building, building for the team and for myself step by step and I think I look at every single race as an opportunity to win,” Binoto said.
“We win and lose in general. It wasn’t great today, but I think it still has a lot of potential and a lot of potential.
“We must first focus on understanding today’s causes, dealing with them and coming back even stronger.”
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