F1 News
Binotto sure Ferrari "made the right decision" to pit Leclerc at the end
Mattia Binotto was downbeat after the Belgian Grand Prix, though he claims the team made the right choice to pit Charles Leclerc at the end of the race to try and get the fastest lap bonus point. In the end, Leclerc lost points for speeding in the pitlane.
Fastest lap point
Max Verstappen controlled the Belgian Grand Prix. His closest rival for the title Charles Leclerc also tried to get through the field but got stuck in P5. Ferrari pitted Leclerc at the end to try and get the bonus point but handed fifth place to Fernando Alonso. On the track, Leclerc managed to make the overtake work but didn't get the bonus point.
Team boss Binotto claims it was still the right decision but admitted it had risk. "We made the right decision. You need to be brave enough to try to get the maximum. We knew it was very tight and that he could overtake. But it was the right choice, we didn't get the fastest lap but that's something else we need to look at," he told Sky Sports.
Ferrari saw Red Bull claim a one-two victory in Spa and take full control in both World Championships. With eight races remaining, Binotto and Ferrari are already starting to look at next season in terms of development.
"There have been a few races that they have been faster than us. We need to look at ourselves and push for developments not only for this season but next season. We had a lot of tyre degradation today and that has to be analysed. What can we do to improve that because that was a significant effort on the overall performance and speed we had. We need to accept that Red Bull is faster than us," he added.