“That Wasn’t the Best Way to Finish the Race”: While Charles Leclerc Points Out Positives, Ferrari Boss Pulls a Toto Wolff After Monza’s Safety Car Debacle

Last Sunday saw Max Verstappen take home yet another trophy as he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Amidst much outcry, Verstappen crossed the finish line under a safety car, winning the Grand Prix. This marks Verstappen’s fifth win in a row in a total of eleven victories this season.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc gave fierce competition at Monza until the safety car sealed his fate to finish in second place. While Leclerc is focusing on the positives of his performance, Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto thinks otherwise.

Ferrari’s team principal, Mattia Binotto, believes that Max Verstappen simply “deserved to win” at Monza as he was much faster than the Monegasque. Despite that, he felt that the final lap warranted actual racing instead of a safety car finish.

Mattia Binotto not happy with Italian GP outcome

The race had an exciting start for Ferrari fans as Charles Leclerc had pole position. But Leclerc soon lost his lead after a virtual safety car. For the rest of the race, Leclerc was left to play catch-up with Max Verstappen. It was shaping up to be a game of whose tire strategy would last. But alas, then came the safety car for Daniel Ricciardo. And after that, the race was as good as over.

“We tried everything possible, but Max had a great race. Today he was very fast, his tires weren’t as worn as ours and in the end, they deserved the victory,” said Mattia Binotto, Ferrari team principal, in post-race interviews.

“We were a little disappointed that the race ended behind the safety car. In my opinion, that wasn’t the best way to finish the race. It was not the best for us, but for the fans. The FIA could have acted differently.”

A team principal not being happy with a safety car decision surely takes the F1 fraternity back to the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen Can Win the Title in Singapore, but What Can Charles Leclerc Do to Delay His Eventual Defeat?

Clearly, Binotto is not happy with the second-place finish in the Italian Grand Prix and considers their own pace to be lacking. While the championship title this season might seem out of reach, Mattia Binotto claims that he firmly believes Ferrari will definitely win the driver’s and constructor’s titles before 2026.

Charles Leclerc speaks about Monza performance

On the other hand, Charles Leclerc seems to have a more optimistic view than Binotto, in terms of their prospects.

In post-race interviews, when asked if he thinks he can win a race, Leclerc says, “Yes, well, I think so and we’ll work for that. I mean, we’ve shown that we’ve had a great reaction from Spa to Monza, we still need to keep in mind that these are not tracks that are good for our race car, but still we have shown good pace.”

“I’m sure we can win some other races.”

It is true that the F1-75 machine is categorically not suited for the Monza circuit. Considering that hurdle, both Ferrari drivers did exceptionally well in terms of performance. A fact that Binotto perhaps glossed over in post-race disappointment.

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Undoubtedly, Charles Leclerc sees a more positive note to this race. He is choosing to focus on his improvement rather than his losses. Perhaps the only thing the Monegasque and his team principal agree on is their hope for the future.

What do you think lies ahead in Ferrari’s future – does it go only upwards or has it reached a plateau? Let us know in the comments.