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Binotto: I was so nervous I stopped watching the race the last few laps

July 16, 2022

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Mattia Binotto reflected on the final laps of the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc was at risk of losing the race due to a throttle problem, revealing he was too nervous to watch.

Charles Leclerc eventually won the race, but Ferrari had out him in a very tough position with another reliability problem as his throttle pedal stopped working properly, after his teammate Carlos Sainz retired from the race with a fire engulfing his car after a power unit blowout.

That comes after the Monegasque suffered two power unit-related DNF’s in Spain and Azerbaijan, but his masterful management of the problem meant he took his third win in 2022.

“I have to admit I was very nervous, disappointed as well for what happened to Carlos [Sainz], but so nervous I stopped watching the race the last few laps!” Binotto said in the aftermath of Austria.

“I think we need to confirm; from what I heard, the only initial feedback is more a mechanical one, but I cannot give you more details than that,” he said of the problem that Leclerc suffered from.

“I think we’ve got only two engine failures so far,” the Ferrari boss reflected on yet another reliability problem. “The others were power unit more than internal combustion engine.

“We need to look at today and see if it is the same issue as the one in Baku with Charles . Very likely, but the people back at Maranello are working very hard to try and fix that, obviously we cannot tell what happened to Carlos yet.

“We have new elements, and I know how strong they are and how hard we are working, how good they are, and I can count on them that it will be addressed very soon – hopefully as soon as possible,” he added.

Ferrari and Red Bull are even on pace

In Austria, Ferrari seemed to have a better race car than a qualifying one, as they seemed to have the tyre degradation under control unlike Red Bull, which meant Max Verstappen had no chance to stop Leclerc, who overtook the former three times during the race on his way to victory.

“I think in terms of pure speed very similar, and qualifying is proving it,” Binotto responded when asked to compare the pace of the Red F1-75 and the Blue RB-18.

“I don’t think there is much difference between the two cars. If any, it was tyre degradation and maybe in the Sprint, I think we had a bit more, let me say, advantage in tyre deg.

“It was even more evident because we started putting pressure on Max since the very start, pushing him, more pace causing him more degradation on the tyres.

“I think what we saw in the Sprint has been more obvious today because we put more pressure on him,” he maintained.

Leclerc’s win at the Red Bull Ring means that he is now 38 points behind Verstappen in the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship as the 2022 season reaches it’s half point.