The crucial error that cost Ferrari the F1 Miami Grand Prix?

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has defended his team’s decision not to pit either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz during the late Safety Car during the inaugural F1 Miami Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferr
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferr

Race control deployed the Safety Car on Lap 41 following Pierr꧅e Gasl🍸y and Lando Norris’ collision.

With a big gap to Valtteri Bottas be🔯hind in fifth, the top fou🧸r all had an opportunity to pit without losing too many places.

Red Bull🍃 decided to pit Sergio Perez for new medium tyres while t👍he top three stayed out on their worn hard tyres.

Fortunate🅠ly for the leading trio, Perez’s ongoing engine issues meant he was unable to make the most of the fresh rubber.

Speaki🍒ng after the race, Binotto explained why Ferrari didn’t pit either driver for new ty🦩res.

“The reason is that we believed that in terms of warm-up,” Binotto explained. “A used tyre would have been stronger than a new one and that we would have suffered more warm-up issues on a new hard which were the ones we had available in the garage so we decided simply to stay out because we believed that was the best chance f𒆙or us to have a good warm-up and t♋ry to attack on the first laps, which is what happened. 

“I think thatꦗ the best opportunity for Charles has been on the very first laps after the Safety Car. He didn’t overtake but certainly was close at that stage and for Carlos as well, on Checo with the new tyres.”

Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing RB18 leads behind the Mercedes Benz FIA Safety Car. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd
Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing RB18 leads behind the Mercedes Benz FIA Safety Car…

On the other hand, Red Bull team principal Chrisꦓtian Horner felt that Ferrari missed a trick by not stopping either of their drivers💯.

“No mistakes, Ferrari 🃏let us off the hook slightly when it went from a Virtual Safety Car to a full Safety Car, Max had already passed the pit entry, whereas Ferrari would’ve had a free stop,”💧 Horner said.

“They didn’t take it with either of their cars. We’re grateful for that, because I think if they had put Soft tyres on, that would’ve been P3 ♍today.”

Red Bull deserved to win F1 Miami GP - Leclerc

Despite starting from pole position, Leclerc ꦛlost the lead of the race after just nine laps as he was overtaken by Verstappen into Turn 1.

Leclerc was running seven seconds behജind Verstappen before the Safety Car after the Dutchman extendꦛed his advantage significantly on the medium tyre.

Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari F1-75 leads at the start of the race. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Miami Grand Prix,
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari F1-75 leads at the start of the race. Formula 1 World…

The pair were closer on pace on the hard tyr💜es with Leclerc managing to pressure his tit🔜le rival after the Safety Car came in.

Reflecting on his latest duel with Verstappen, Leclerc said: “I took a bit too much kerb. I think t🌄he lap before it was Max who took it qu꧙ite hard and helped me to get close. As we were saying in the press conference, with those cars, they are so big that five centimetres can make a huge difference there and especially the way the kerb is done. 

“It’s a very tricky part of the track and on that particular lap I overdid it but I didn’t lose that much compared to my previous la🤡ps so I was surprised. It was a big hit ꦐbut I managed it quite well. 

“In the end, it didn’t have any consequence on the opportunity for overtaking. I think there was one very good opportunity on the second lap after the Safety Car🐼 but there was no DRS. Apart from that, the Red Bull deserved to win and Max deserved to win, he was a bit quicker than us today.”

Sunday's result meaജns Leclerc's championship lead has been reduced to just 19 points while Ferrari have a six-point lead over Red Bull.

(L to R): second placed Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari and race winner Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing on the podium.
(L to R): second placed Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari and race winner Max Verstappen (NLD) Red…

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