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Mattia Binotto Blames Pirelli for Ferrari F1 Debacle at French Grand Prix
After decent outings in Monaco and Baku, many expected Ferrari to keep that run going today in the French Grand Prix. However, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished far off the points in P11 and P16 respectively.
Despite both drivers qualifying P5 and P7 respectively, they struggled to match the race pace of their midfield competitors throughout. After a disappointing outing in Le Castellet, team principal Mattia Binotto pointed out why they struggled today.
Binotto believes tire degradation ruined the race for Ferrari
After a disappointing season in 2020, Ferrari looked to go through another season of struggle and hardship in 2021. However, the Italian outfit are well in the battle for third place with McLaren, with both Sainz and Leclerc putting in impressive performances across races.
Although they struggled in the practice sessions in Le Castellet, both drivers got into Q3 on Saturday. This continued their recent trend of displaying good single-lap pace after Leclerc took back-to-back poles in Monaco and Baku.
However, their biggest issue remains race pace, which saw them lose out on points today. In addition, McLaren took 18 points today after Lando Norris finished P5 and Daniel Ricciardo finished P6.
After the race, Binotto admitted the changes made by Pirelli for this weekend hurt their chances. He also believes the revised tire pressures affected the degradation of their tires.
The Italian said, “Pressures? Pirelli has increased those of the rear. In these cases it slips more and more graining is generated. There will be other tracks where we will be in difficulty due to the temperature and the asphalt.” (Quotes translated by Google)
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One of our worst races this season: Binotto
The outcome of this race made the 51-year-old believe this was the worst weekend for Ferrari this season. “We did badly not only compared to Barcelona, but compared to all the other races and also to what we saw on Friday,” said Binotto.
“We had a bad race, outside from the points, a blow thinking about the constructors’ classification.”
With McLaren taking 18 points, Ferrari fall to 4th place in the constructor’s championship, 16 points behind the Woking-based outfit. With the next race in Austria, the Tifosi will hope to see an improved performance from Ferrari on June 27.
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