‘Accidents can happen in the midfield’ rues Binotto as lap one crash wipes Ferrari out

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In the round-up: Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was left to count the cost of his drivers’ first-lap collision at the Red Bull Ring.

What they say

Binotto said there was no reason to point fingers over the crash after Charles Leclerc apologised to Sebastian Vettel and the team.

I think it’s certainly a pain to see two retired after only two laps each. It’s the worst conclusion to a difficult weekend for us.

So I think at the end, we do not need to hide ourselves behind our fingers. Some accident may happen when you start in the midfield.

We are not looking for responsibilities. I think it’s no time to accuse. It’s time to work united back at Maranello and to progress as soon as possible.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

David doubts the stewards will upload Renault’s protest against Racing Point:

This will amount to nothing. The FIA has already looked at both Racing Point and Mercedes designs side by side and agree they’re fine.

The only issue is if the Racing Point car is actually different to the designs they sent to the FIA, or if the Mercedes part is different to the designs the FIA saw – and then only if they are considered ‘identical’ enough to be a problem.
David (@davidjwest)

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On this day in F1

Alan Jones, Williams, Brands Hatch, 1980
Alan Jones, Williams, Brands Hatch, 1980
  • 40 years ago today Alan Jones won the British Grand Prix after the Ligier drivers suffered wheel failures. It was Patrick Depailler’s final race.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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13 comments on “‘Accidents can happen in the midfield’ rues Binotto as lap one crash wipes Ferrari out”

  1. Rapidly becoming a huge Lando Norris fan. His positivity is infectious, I can’t help but wish to see him succeed!

    1. He’s a passionate racer for sure and is being rewarded hansomly for it. So well spoken and concise. If it keeps up he could be something truly special for the sport (and racing in general).

      1. He’s exactly the sort of driver that will get kids interested in F1.

        Let’s hope he has a stellar 2020 with even better years to come.

  2. Charles and Seb … the new Romain and Kevin?

    I hope it brings a little more respect for the likes of the Haas guys, fighting it out amongst a dense field of squirrelly cars.

    1. The Ferrari drivers clashing again.. this time because Leclerc admittedly made a mistake, should increase the respect for the Haas drivers?!?!

      Both the Haas drivers are rubbish on pace and consistency, plus they tangle with each other, just because a top team is suddenly having similar issues doesn’t make Magnussen and Grosjean less rubbish.

  3. Ferrari in big trouble, they have gone constantly backwards since Binotto took over. These accidents are happening because they have put themselves into the middle of the mid field and their guys are not accustomed to dealing with that, they feel they should be up front and therefore push too hard.
    Yes, it was Leclercs fault clearly, but had he and Seb been where they feel they should be in the field it probably would not have happened.

  4. COTD: well, it’d not be the first time something was deemed legal only for then to be called illegal. Remember the mass damper?

  5. Tommytintop (@)
    13th July 2020, 9:27

    I wonder how things would have played out if the cars if SV had been on the inside and taken out CLC. Would Binotto have been as happy with his drivers?

    1. Yep. he was pretty openly critical of Seb after last week’s race.

  6. A penny for Carlos Sainz’s thoughts.

    Leaving a rapidly improving McLaren that will have Mercedes power next season for a floundering Ferrari.

    1. Yeah, agreed @sonnycrockett. Initially I was disappointed that they took Sainz instead of Ricciardo, but now I’m excited to see Ricciardo + Norris at McLaren…

    2. Better to drive in a race losing ferrari than in a possible race winning team @ sonny.

  7. I like what binotto stated about crashes in midfield can and will happen. Ibthink people missed his point in that they(ferrari) should actually be further up the grid which is the bigger problem for ferrari.

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