Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has been talking of the importance of clean air to the performance of the current Ferrari SF21, as shown by the most recent outing at Silverstone.
Charles Leclerc took the lead of the British Grand Prix on the opening lap after Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen tangled at Copse.
When the race was restarted after a red flag, Leclerc surprised onlookers by fending off Hamilton to keep the lead for 49 of the 51 laps, until tyre wear ultimately meant he surrendered the lead with two laps to go.
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Given that Ferrari had not shown that sort of robust performance elsewhere this season – with the exception of the two poles Leclerc claimed at the Monaco and Baku street circuits – many wondered where the pace had come from.
“Charles was ahead and in front and we could do our own pace,” Binotto explained. “If you compare our two drivers, one of the two is stuck behind them and the other, they have clean air.”
Binotto pointed out that Carlos Sainz found it difficult to run at the same speed as his team mate while in traffic after a wheel gun issue during his pit stop.
“When Carlos was in clean air he had the pace of Charles, so I think that’s not our pace,” he said. “It was a shame that a technical problem with a wheel gun at the pit stop cost [Carlos] at least one place.”
Binotto suggested a comparison to Lando Norris’ pace in the previous race in Austria where the McLaren finished on the podium for the third time this season.
“If you look at the Austria comparisons, Norris has been on the podium doing a fantastic race,” Binotto told Motorsport.com.
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