Leclerc was leading the race, he was forced to retire due to an engine failure, only two races after a similar disappointment in Barcelona, while Sainz had reported a cable brake failure after going for an escape route, with the team clarifying that it was a hydraulic problem.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen also retired with an engine failure in the latest in a series of issues that have affected Ferrari customer teams, as Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu also retired.
In statements shortly after Sunday’s race, Binotto said it was too early to give details of what broke or whether the retirees were related to previous problems.
“We still have to analyze and understand,” he said when asked to explain the problems. “I think you can in both cars, they had different problems. With Carlos we will now look at the hydraulic system, and hopefully” I will identify it.
“Another Charles, no doubt related to the engine, I think is quite obvious from the smoke. Is it something we had in the past? I don’t think so, but maybe we do, and we also look at what happened to our client teams.
“But I don’t think that only with telemetry data can we have a clear answer to the problem. The components will be sent back to Maranello and, as usual, will be disassembled and tried to understand and fix as soon as possible.
“Is it due to quality, reliability, anything else, use? I still don’t know. But I think there’s no doubt that when you have so many reliability issues, there’s a concern.
“I know that in terms of performance effort, the redesign of the total power unit, we did a fantastic job. But that also means that overall, in terms of the product, there’s still very little experience. and I certainly think that in terms of reliability, there is still progress to be made. “
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, returns to his garage after retiring from racing
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Binotto felt that the team made the right strategic calls before Leclerc’s engine crash, as the Monegasque was put under a first virtual safety car while the two Red Bull drivers were left out, a play which left him with a useful advantage when the RB18s stopped.
Although there was a compensated tire in about nine laps when the two Red Bulls pitted, Binotto added that he thought Leclerc could hold on to victory, citing the low tire degradation of the hard tire.
“I think the team was very responsive at the time of the VSC, we called Charles because he was very close to the box office,” Binotto explained.
“We were very, very sharp. I think the drivers reacted very well. And somehow I think we had an advantage on stage. In fact, it was still a very long race, we had to manage the tires until the final.
“The degradation of the tires on the hard drive was very small. So if we could have survived the hard drive, it would have been the right call, but obviously we don’t have the answer to that.
“We will have the numbers and I’m pretty sure everyone will take a look to have a forecast of how the race would have ended. But we felt very strong, certainly at the head with a strong tire. And Charles was very happy with the behavior of the car. “
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