Between a dramatic finish in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mattia Binotto's newest remarks, Max Verstappen's pro-Bernie comments and more fallout from Montreal, the last seven days had plenty going on in the F1 world.
Alonso Steals Le Mans Win: Not a man with the best relationship with Lady Luck – hell, it was only a few weeks ago he didn't qualify for the Indy 500 – fortune was back on Fernando Alonso's side this past weekend at Le Mans. Taking victory alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, their #8 Toyota only snagged the win courtesy of a late puncture to the sister #7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose-Maria Lopez. Unfortunately for the latter trio, that's how racing goes sometimes, and while it's easy to be sympathetic, the same can't be said of the record books, which will simply show Alonso with two LM24 wins next to his name.
Binotto Too Chatty for His Own Good? The man who instituted Ferrari's new, media-friendly policy, Mattia Binotto has once again talked the talk this past week, that said, I wonder if in this case, he might've been better off keeping his mouth shut.
Speaking to
Auto Motor und Sport, Binotto might have been a bit too honest, owning up to both his mismanagement of drivers, and his car being developed in the "wrong direction", with the latter being a particularly stunning admission. Both for his own job security and team morale, it seems ill-advised to give critics (and particularly the wolves of the Italian media) such ammunition, especially with two-thirds of the season left to go.
No, he doesn't have to pretend everything is perfect, but as the leader of his team, it's his job to instil confidence that they're still capable of turning it around, where this just reads as a white flag. As Paul said in the article, maybe it's time the Scuderia brought someone else in to share some of the load – otherwise, it might not be long before Binotto is replaced entirely.
Verstappen Wants F1 Dictatorship: A sport with a level of politicking to rival any of the action on-track, it's awfully difficult to get F1 teams to agree about anything… which is why Max Verstappen wants them out of the equation. Certainly, he's not wrong when he says Ferrari, Mercedes and their respective camps will always vote in their best interests, but does that mean we should return to the Bernie days? As big as the sport became under his stewardship, it wasn't in exactly the most healthy place when he left, and while Liberty still has a lot of work to do, I'd argue there's still some growing pains to be had, but ultimately, with more than one voice being heard, we should end up with a better system of governance.
Ferrari Still Fighting Montreal Decision: It's the story that just won't quit – and with good reason, considering the Scuderia themselves are still pushing it. Looking for an overturn of Sebastian Vettel's five-second penalty at the Canadian GP, Ferrari have brought forth 'new evidence' that allows them to request a review of the incident by the FIA. What this evidence is, we don't know, but given this is less a question of rule misapplication, and more a question of misinterpretation,
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