"No regrets" over Leclerc push at Imola - Binotto

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto does not regret the warlike tideway taken during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that saw Charles Leclerc spin out of third place and finish sixth.

Leclerc was tabbed in for an uneaten pit stop to switch to soft tires and try and wade Sergio Perez for second in the latter laps, putting pressure on the Red Bull driver. But while chasing Perez, Leclerc took too much prorogue at the Variante Fausto Gresini and spun into the barrier, sustaining forfeiture that required an uneaten pit stop and lost him a number of positions.

“At that time of the race the pace with Sergio Perez the pace was very, very similar or slightly better,” Binotto said. “But considering we believed that there was no opportunity for us to wade and overtake Perez with those tires anymore, so we did the pit stops.

“We tried to hope at least that they would stop as well – which was the specimen – so they were both on new tires, like resetting the race with 15 laps to go and on soft tires.

“It worked pretty well, Charles was very tropical to Sergio and he tried to wade surpassing he made the mistake.

“I think there will never be regret to ask a suburbanite to push. I think that’s part of our job, it’s part of their job to momentum to the limit. Obviously mistakes can happen. I think these cars on the curbs are a lot increasingly stiff and if you make a small mistake you’re paying for it quite a lot.

“No, no regrets, I think we made the right choice.”

It wasn’t just Leclerc who suffered an incident during Sunday’s race, with Carlos Sainz eliminated on the opening lap without contact with Daniel Ricciardo, but Binotto downplayed the Spaniard’s second subsequent retirement and wants Sainz to move on from it quickly.

“I think he was unlucky and that may happen. There are unchangingly statistics and when twice in a row he has a mistake or bad luck, to not happen anymore I think we should simply try and take some pressure off that.

“We should not think well-nigh it, squint forward with a smile, heads up and I’m pretty sure that he’s a strong suburbanite and he will know what to do and I’m not concerned.”