Binotto praised the team for the red herring

The Ferrari team ended the season well: in the last race of the season, Charles Leclerc finished second behind only Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz fourth and the team from Maranello finished second in the Constructors’ Championship.

Scuderia head Mattia Binotto summed up the championship: “This is the result of not just one race in Abu Dhabi, but the result of work throughout the season. We have not promised to win the title, but we have promised to compete at a competitive level. We are not yet ready to fight for championship victory and we are not yet mature enough to do so, but we will continue to develop. Being competitive and winning are not the same thing.

In some weekends we did everything right, in some cases we made mistakes, and now we have to take another step forward. But our team knows how to overcome difficulties and will continue to do so.

Last weekend, the team worked smoothly from Friday, no rumors affected their composure, everyone kept maximum concentration, although it was not easy, and had an excellent session.

Charles had a good race and worked well with rubber. During practice we focused on increasing the race pace. It was important to achieve the optimum balance of the chassis, but even more important was to find the right approach to driving.

The secret was not to be overly aggressive so as not to wear out the tires too much. For example, Lewis Hamilton actively attacked in the first segment and this affected his rubber. However, Charles acted calmly, drove confidently and fully deserved second place in the race.

The team leader particularly pointed to the very successful tactics of the team, which managed to force Red Bull Racing and Sergio Perez to pit, which ultimately gave Leclerc the necessary lead. Charles and Sergio battled not only for 2nd place in the race, but also in the championship, but on track the Monegask was behind Perez after the first pit stops.

By lap 34 he was already overtaking his opponent, at which point the engineer gave Leclair the order to go to the pits by radio, ostensibly to use the opposite tactic to the one the Mexican was adhering to. But this was only done to deceive Red Bull, as Ferrari had no intention of changing the tires on Charles’ car at all. Rivals took the bait and as a result everyone saw a spectacular end to the race, with Pérez chasing down Leclerc in the closing laps but still finishing third despite fresher tyres.

“I think the diversion we took against Red Bull was a great decision by our strategists,” said Binotto. – Absolutely, everyone acted correctly, we managed to implement this tactical plan and I am very happy for the team. When Ferrari makes mistakes, it is always heavily criticized. But I also know that these guys can do a great job.”