Mattia Binotto, Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, defended team decision of team order.
He explained that Charles Leclerc would have found his way ahead of Sebastian Vettel, even if team would not have called for team order.
Vettel was asked to let Leclerc pass and take the lead on the 27th lap of Belgian Grand Prix.
The German driver was leading the race for first 20 laps of the race when he was asked to step aside for Leclerc. Binotto asserted that Vettel was ahead of Leclerc because he was pitted six laps earlier than is team mate. He was running on new rubber.
“There were not many choices today,” explained Binotto. :We had to anticipate Seb’s call and Seb’s pit [stop] to protect him from the Mercedes. Otherwise Hamilton would have stopped, they were ready for it and would have overcut.
“Second, because staying out longer put Charles in a better position with tyres. Seb was certainly faster at that stage and [Leclerc] would have overtook him at some stage simply because of the different strategy.”
Earlier the team had adopted different strategies for the pair. Earlier pit stop made it necessary for the team to ask for the required decision. Binotto said, “We thought we are losing time, [it] would have been the best for the team and for Charles in that occasion.”
This season, Ferrari had also intervened and passed team orders for Vettel. Leclerc was asked to withdraw his position in favor of team mate during the start of the season.
“At the start of the season, when we at least tried, it was not always very well accepted from the outside,” said Binotto. “But since the very start of the season we always said that the first priority is the teams and the team points.
“Race by race we normally discuss with the drivers what may be the situation. It’s something that we discussed at least with both of them in the morning.
“No doubt that after a few races things become more straightforward even when discussing with drivers and drivers somehow understanding it. It’s never an easy call, I have to say, because drivers are in the car to drive as fast as they can and to do as much as they can for themselves.”
