Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto: “That was a very intense and difficult race today”

Mattia Binotto, the team boss at Scuderia Ferrari, was pleased to see Carlos Sainz Jr. secure a place on the podium in the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday, although he was disappointed that the rain prevented after the race Charles Leclerc from collecting points.

Sainz led the first few laps on the Autodrome in Sochibut early tire grain made it fall behind McLaren F1 team‘S Lando Norris, and an early pit stop seemed to have ruined his chance for a top result. However, the rain came and a perfectly timed pit stop brought him third place.

Leclerc was a man on a mission early on, having started on the back row, and by the end of the first lap he was in twelfth place. He fought for points all day only to end up losing in the shuffle after betting on running longer on slicks despite the persistent rain.

“That was a very intense and difficult race today that ended with one of our drivers on the podium,” said Binotto. “Carlos had a great weekend, both yesterday in qualifying and today in the race, and third place is a nice reward for all the hard work.

“Charles leaves empty-handed at the end of a weekend that started with the penalty kick on his backfoot, but today he has once again proven how talented he is. He made a great start, had a really strong race pace and showed the right aggression for the overtaking maneuvers. “

While delighted with the podium for Sainz, Binotto was disappointed that the pit stops and tire management were not at the level Ferrari expected and as such they will go away to learn what they can do better in the future.

“We know that as a team we always have to try to improve in every area. Here we introduced an update to the hybrid system for the engine, which worked as we expected and performed a little more, ”he said.

“However, we were not perfect in other areas, for example with the pit stops and tire management with Charles in the last chaotic moments of the race, while with Carlos everything went according to plan and we are building on the experience we gained today.”