Nico Rosberg, the 2016 Formula 1 Champion, slammed Ferrari after their latest shenanigans at the 2022 Dutch Grand Prix, claiming Formula 2 and Formula 3 teams do a better job on strategies and pitstops.
Bad strategy calls and botched pit stops has been a trademark for Ferrari’s 2022 season, as their drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz take turns in receiving the the outcome of their team’s bad decisions.
At the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, Carlos Sainz was the receiving end, as his first pit stop was a disastrous 12.7s wait as Ferrari scramble to fit his rear-left tyre, while on a later stop, he was released unsafely in the way of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso consequently receiving a five-second time penalty relegating him to eighth on the grid at the end of the race.
Sainz explained that his penalty was unfair, as he claims he was released safely but had to take avoiding action not to collect a McLaren mechanic.
“That wasn’t an unsafe release, I was launched into the pit lane correctly but the problem is that I had to brake to not take a McLaren guy out of his life,” the Spaniard said of the pitlane incident.
But Nico Rosberg is having none of it and was brutal in his assessment of Ferrari’s situation on Sky Sports F1, saying: “Mattia Binotto keeps saying, ‘no, no, we don’t need to make any changes and everything is going well’, but when is that day going to come?
“Even Formula Two or Formula Three teams do a better job with their strategy and pit-stops than Ferrari do,” he added blasting Ferrari.
A pit stop to forget for Ferrari 😫#DutchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/9KEykCkHLD
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 4, 2022
Mattia Binotto is a technician
The German who won his only Title with Mercedes went on suggesting Mattia Binotto is unable to run the sport’s most famous team on his own.
“Binotto is technician,” he said. “So it could be suggested that you need a joint leadership team – one being a technician and one being a business manager, a people manager.
“When we are in the commentary box, we are just waiting for a mistake to happen, and that is not good,” Rosberg revealed.
“So there needs to be some fundamental changes in their personnel, and how people work together there because it is just going wrong on too many occasions,” the winner of 23 grands prix suggested.
On the other hand, and when faced with Rosberg’s statements, Binotto was adamant nothing needed to change at Ferrari, despite the team going from Title contenders, to fighting for second in the Constructors’ Standings with Mercedes.
“My answer to Rosberg is that we will not change people,” the Ferrari boss responded. “It is so easy to speak and criticise when you are out of the paddock.
“But we have got great people, and it has been proven that what is more important in sport is stability, and to make sure we are improving day-by-day and race-by-race.
“It takes years of experience for all teams to be at the front, and there is no reason why it should be different for ourselves,” the Swiss-born Italian insisted.
Ferrari are now only 30 points clear of Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship.