Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2019

“We won today”: Binotto defiant after Vettel’s penalty

2019 Canadian Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said Sebastian Vettel was the “moral winner” of the Canadian Grand Prix after a penalty relegated him to second.

“We won today,” Binotto told Sky. “I think honestly as I said we have been the fastest on track today and that’s important.”

Vettel was penalised for rejoining the track in an unsafe fashion, which forced Lewis Hamilton to back off.

“Certainly if you look at the crowd everybody seemed to believe that there was nothing else that Sebastian could have done in that occasion,” said Binotto.

“When he went off he was driving at the limit each single lap, each single corner,” he added. “So he did a mistake in that respect but we were on the borderline of the tyres. And obviously coming back on the track you have no grip, you were just on the grass, nothing you can do, and that’s what he did.”

Binotto denied Vettel had been trying to prevent Hamilton from getting ahead by moving across from the left-hand side of the track to the racing line on the right-hand side as he rejoined.

“I don’t think he had any bad intention what he was doing at all,” said Binotto. “He stayed ahead the entire race, he took the chequered flag first, for us he is the moral winner.

“And more important that as a team we have proved that we can still be competitive. There are still many races, we go back certainly with even more boost. We know there are weaknesses to address but the season is not over.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2019 F1 season

Browse all 2019 F1 season articles

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

47 comments on ““We won today”: Binotto defiant after Vettel’s penalty”

  1. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    9th June 2019, 23:01

    Ferrari are going to make the Liberty negotiations miserable after this disgraceful call by the stewards mark my words.

    1. Disgraceful?
      How so?
      Rules are clear. The decision was harsh, but there was nothing disgraceful about it.

      1. This near-miss was as much Hamilton’s fault. If the car ahead goes off onto the grass, you don’t floor it. You back off just in case. They teach you that in karting.

        1. Nope. Hence the penalty.

        2. Formula One isn”t karting.

          1. @tharris19 indeed, it’s much faster and far easier to lose control. Hence why you back off.

        3. Go and watch something you understand.

    2. I hope they do. Just finished watching the highlights on Channel 4. What a disgrace.

      1. Seb was robbed.

        1. More like robbied…

        2. You must have missed the part where Vettel made yet another error, giving the stewards an opportunity to “rob” him. Seb has made many mistakes on track over the past year and a half. That’s on him, irrespective of the stewards decision.

    3. Liberty should call the bluff and it will be good riddance for F1.

      1. Certainly F1 without Ferrari would be terrible.

        Mercedes will quit next then, because without Ferrari who are they beating? RedBull? A drinks company?

        Even this was bad decision, not incorrect just bad. Racing incident would be much better, or penalty points on the licence.

        So essentially, Ferrari won morally, Mercedes won factually, and sport lost a thrilling race ending.

    4. @canadianjosh The FIA is responsible for the matters concerning Stewards and penalties, not LM, the commercial rights holder, though.

  2. I think that everyone apart from Toto Wolff and a few deluded Lewis fans know who the real winner today is.

    1. Yeah Lewis Hamilton, unless you think leaving the track to maintain an advantage should be rewarded

      1. No Sebastian Vettel, unless you honestly think that you a driver can gain by having his car snap on entry, almost sliding him into the wall is cause to strip you of a well deserved victory.

        1. Please stop with this BS.

          I think the penalty was harsh, I wouldn’t have given it, BUT

          Seb put himself in this situation again, making yet another mistake under pressure, which led to having to wrestle the car back on to the track, a move interpreted by others as unsafe.

          So yes we do know who the real winner is. It’s controversial, it’s a tad fortunate perhaps, it’s certainly a result of not making the mistakes that open you up to this situation. It’s Lewis Hamilton, check the results.

          1. Seb put himself in this situation again, making yet another mistake under pressure,

            No. What you mean is he should have just driven slower and let lewis by, because the Ferarri’s mechanical grip isn’t up to his input over a whole race.
            In the old days, outdriving a faster car got you credit not ridicule.
            Then again there was no such thing as bitter internet posters with their egos fully invested into a certain driver.

          2. Big Joe

            No, I meant what I wrote. Try responding to that, not what you made up in your head.

            He slid off the track. Don’t do that, none of it happens. It’s a standard requirement.

            It’s nothing to do with investment into any driver. Another thing made up in your head. The irony of you calling out ‘bitter’ posters is not lost. You are a lot more perturbed by all this than I am.

          3. “In the old days, outdriving a faster car got you credit not ridicule.”

            I’m sure that two weeks ago you were praising Lewis after he outdrove a faster car behind him. ;)

    2. Estaban Ocon?

      1. Oh very good Nin….very good…clap clap clap…LOOOOOL.

    3. I didn’t like the effect of decision on the outcome, but rules are rules.
      Just accept this.

  3. Well, there’s a slightly off-topic thought – yet another example of failing Ferrari strategy. Had they pitted Leclerc one lap after Hamilton, he could have been roughly two seconds behind the Mercedes and I’m sure this could have shaken up the things a big time at the end of the Grand Prix. Instead, they were just waiting aimlessly, not really knowing what to do, and told Leclerc to pit four or five laps later when he was already 11 seconds behind Hamilton. No strategy at all. They had the means to save this race, but that would require a competent strategy department.

  4. I’m sure Hamilton would happily swap Spa 2008 for this victory if Ferrari want to trade.

    1. It’s not up to Ferrari to trade. It’s the steward ing that’s for sale I guess.

      1. I doubt Massa would be happy either, even if he was totally undeserving of the victory.

  5. ““I don’t think he had any bad intention what he was doing at all,” said Binotto”

    If only we hadn’t already seen Vettel deliberately drive into the side of Hamilton before, this might have had some weight.

    Good call from stewards

  6. Neil (@neilosjames)
    10th June 2019, 0:30

    I don’t quite get the strength of the reaction to this.

    Vettel made a mistake under pressure and he deserved to lose the position. I don’t like the penalty all that much but I don’t know how he can be a ‘moral winner’ when the only thing he lost is a position he deserved to lose anyway because of his own mistake.

    1. A high level mental acrobatics. How does “making a mistake” automatically lead to “deserving to lose position? I have seen many drivers cutting a chicane, especially in the recent years when every track is so safe and flattened, and to many of them it had a minor impact to their position, in fact they could make up their own mistake and nobody was questioning it. Vettel, meanwhile, was at disadvantage as he was on the grass. He still had a time to rejoin and he defended his position. Again, how did he precisely deserve to lose the position?

      1. @pironitheprovocateur Agreed. Making a small error and collecting the car quickly and barely holding up the trailing car in the process does not automatically warrant a lost position. Seb was back on it really quickly.

      2. Neil (@neilosjames)
        10th June 2019, 1:02

        How does “making a mistake” automatically lead to “deserving to lose position?

        It doesn’t. I’m not attempting to create a standard blanket rule to be applied to all errors, and I’m not talking about ‘recent years’ and other drivers. I’m talking specifically about the incident involving Vettel and Hamilton in the Canadian Grand Prix.

        On this occasion, I believe the error was sufficiently substantial that he deserved to lose the position. Nothing more to it than that.

        1. before you even begin to come back , max got a penalty but he drove to make a gap to make up for it, but vettel wasnt happy of course because he wasnt given the position back he “thinks” he deserved.. yet, hamilton pressuring him into a mistake, but vettel deserves the win… you guys are as dreamy and vettel is…

          vettel needs to learn to keep cool under pressure as this is going for a 50% error rate in his cv under pressure… even nuts resist quite a bit under pressure, vettel is almost like a jelly, minor pressure added, liquifies instantly

      3. @pironitheprovocateur

        vettel disaggrees with you when the roles changed in 2016 mexico! he cried like a baby, and he commented that he fought hard to pressure max into making a mistake after which he was not penalized, to which he swore at charlie, and moaned on the radio for 30 mins!

        i guess you guys only watch mario cart where there are no rules… or maybe want the FIA and stewards from 2008…

        spa 2008 hamilton getting 25 sec penalty for (obeying the rules but still) a made a rule that didnt exist yet until after the race… and japan 2008 massa getting only a drive through when you crash your direct competitor, just a slap on the wrist… while ham got drive through for forcing someone off track…. which is 15-20 secs equivalent! vettel did two things, drive someone off track, and unsafe re-entry… and get 5 sec penalty… i think what they should have done is they should have stopped the race when vettel’s car/tyres started having problem to keep him from making mistake and giving ferrari the win they were dreaming about for so long…

    2. It was always going to be a tough and controversial call by the stewards. I wouldn’t have complained either for no penalty or 5sec as was the case.

      Maybe slightly in favor of the penalty for the following. Vettel made a mistake, lost control and rejoined the track how he could without hitting anything but in doing so he leaves less than a car width and forces Hamilton to lift (taking evasive action).

      If Vettel, recovered his car a touch earlier and left one car width, it would have been no penalty. If there was no wall to the right and Hamilton could put half a tire on the grass, don’t think there would have been a penalty. But Hamilton didn’t have the chance to take advantage of Vettel mistake by having a run to the following turn and that probably tipped the balance in the stewards room.

  7. Moral victories seem the best they can do right now. It’s ominous that at what was supposed to be a Ferrari track Mercedes was clearly faster in the race. Hamilton would have disappeared into the distance if he got by.

  8. Ferrari were happy enough to see Max Verstappen penalised for dangerously rejoining the track in last year’s Japanese Grand Prix.

    1. Big difference is that Verstappen had control of the car.

  9. Did Binotto contest the penalty awarded against Max Verstappen for dangerously rejoining the track in last year’s Japanese Grand Prix?

    1. @gnosticbrian

      Max’s incident at japan was the first similar incident that crossed my mind as well. Honestly, Max’s penalty felt a little harsh at the time as well.. But it was applied without much debate. And although Max moaned about it, they came to terms with it without launching an appeal.

      From a consistency point of view the stewards made the right decision today. It definitely ruined the battle for the win, and did feel a little harsh on Vettel. But I don’t think it was a wrong decision.

      I actually feel for Ferrari and Vettel this weekend… But they have to suck it up and carry on.

      1. Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
        10th June 2019, 7:00

        Still, Max actually touched wheels and almost drove Kimi off the track. Lewis didn’t even touch with Vettel.

        1. Because he had to stamp on the brakes otherwise he was going into a wall.

  10. Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
    10th June 2019, 6:59

    Damn right you did. Next time we need to ban bumping wheels or something cause it is “dangerous” driving.

  11. Ferrari/Vettel could have avoided this very simply. Vettel came on the radio and stated he was correct in what he did otherwise Hamilton would have been past – first mistake – he shouldn’t have mentioned that as it would be picked up by the stewards and either used against him, or misinterpreted as on purpose. Ferrari should immediately have told Vettel to give the place, then with their higher speed and DRS down the back straight, Vettel should have been able to immediately get the place back.

    On the SkyF1 post-race show, Martin Brundle raised an interesting point that there have been other incidents like this at Canada in previous years, but at the main pit-straight chicane which has a big concrete run-off (think Rosberg for example). If a driver straight-lines that chicane after locking up/making a mistake and stays ahead of their rival, then they are immediately told to give the place back or are given a 5s penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The only difference with the Vettel/Hamilton incident, was it was in a wall-lined section of narrow track; had it been any other track or on the pit-straight, then the track would have been wide enough that Hamilton would have been able to keep his foot in and complete the pass.

    Ultimately, these were the reasons for the penalty whether you agree with it or not.

  12. Let’s have a minute of silence for the aggrieved F1 fan … Alright, then. Off to France we go!!

  13. Finally justice for Spa 2008.

Comments are closed.