F1 Blog: another Ferrari explosion, it’s a complete sh*t! The Italian team is under fire from critics, Binotto upsets the fans again

Comment:: Ferrari has been the target of massive criticism – unfortunately, this is one of the things that has become an absolute regularity this season. Even worse, Ferrari is being criticized not only by many experts, but also by their own fans, who are certainly losing their fingernails or the hair on their heads during races. The Maranello-based team made another mistake in the Dutch Grand Prix, this time during a pit stop.

It’s lap 15 of the Dutch Grand Prix when Ferrari decide to make a pit stop and fit Sainz with a fresh set of medium hard tyres.

But the Italian stable was not prepared for this pit-stop and so Sainz’s pit-stop stretched to 12.7 seconds. The Spanish driver thus dropped down the order, even finding himself in 11th place after exiting pit lane, although some of the drivers ahead of him had not yet stopped.

Nevertheless, Ferrari were once again the laughing stock and, as has become their custom this season, they once again annoyed even their own fans.

So why did Ferrari call Sainz to the pits when they knew they would not be able to prepare the pit-stop properly and therefore lose valuable time and positions? Team boss Mattia Binotto still maintains that Ferrari doesn’t need any changes, especially in terms of race strategy.

Statements from Rosberg and Binotto

“When will that day come? That’s not possible anymore. Even the Formula 2 and Formula 3 teams are doing a better job than Ferrari with regard to strategy and pit stops. You arrive in the pits and not a single tyre is ready for us in the race. At some point you have to start making changes,” said Rosberg, who was quoted by Racing News 365.

However, Binotto replied to Rosberg via another interview not long afterwards. “We will not change any members of our team, that’s a direct answer to Rosberg. What is more important is stability and making sure you improve race by race. We have a great team, I have no doubt about that.”

“It was too late, so we didn’t have time to react (to the pit-stop – ed.). I’m pretty sure we can improve in the future. I’m less concerned about it than the speed of the car,” Binotto added.

After this statement, Ferrari fans can once again clutch their heads and start imagining with horror what their favourite team will do in the upcoming race of the season, which is, after all, the home Italian Grand Prix. However, Binotto’s argument that they didn’t react to the pit-stop afterwards doesn’t make sense either.

In a Formula One environment where every tenth of a second really matters, this is an absolute disaster. And not because of the title fight, which has long been out of the question, but because of the apparent direct battle with Mercedes for third place.

And to add some more information about that incriminating moment, Ferrari only decided at the last corner to call Sainz to the pits.

“So if I don’t have the tyres ready, I don’t go into the pits. It’s not a discussion at all that someone was late. You’re crazy to let that driver into the pits when you know it’s a hell of a 150 meters to the pit? It’s a total bullshit,” said Czech racer and F1 expert Josef Král on the EisKing podcast.

And their viewers then mentioned one thing in the comments – he said it exactly and he is absolutely right. Not to mention that if Ferrari’s strategists don’t make mistakes, the drivers themselves do. Carlos Sainz also made one of these in Zandvoort, on his second pit-stop.

Sainz’s second pit-stop and more trouble

This one was launched into Fernando Alonso’s path, with Sainz hesitating as he exited his stall and narrowly avoiding contact with Alonso. He was subsequently handed a five-second penalty by race management.

This then caused Sainz to lose his final fifth place and drop down to position number 8. On lap fifty-five, Valtteri Bottas stopped his Alfa Romeo at the end of the finishing straight and the safety car came out on the track.

This logically caused the entire starting field to come together and Sainz did not gain enough ground by the end of the race to prevent the penalty from causing him to drop down the results list. The Spanish driver declared after the Dutch Grand Prix that it was a race worth forgetting.

Charles Leclerc was very disappointed despite gaining a podium finish and admitted that it will be very difficult to win the title this season.

What did the Dutch Grand Prix do to the standings?

The drivers’ championship seems to be decided with 7 races to go, although Leclerc still has a mathematical chance for the title. But after what we have seen in the last few races, it seems clear to everyone that Verstappen will defend his title.

He leads the championship by 109 points, having collected 310 points so far. Second Leclerc and third Sergio Pérez have 201 points between them.

Red Bull has also leapfrogged Ferrari in the Constructors’ Cup. The Austrian stable leads the championship with 501 points. On the other hand, Mercedes in third place is slowly but surely reducing its lead over second-placed Ferrari. At the moment, the gap between them is only 30 points.

F1 TV, Racing News 365, EisKing