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Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto reckons the Italian team showed in Abu Dhabi that they could do well in terms of strategy.
The battle for P2 in the championship was on the line in the last race of the season. Ferrari's selection of a one-stop strategy for Charles Leclerc trumped the 2-stop strategy Red Bull's Sergio Perez was on. That helped the Ferrari driver secure P2 in the championship, his best career finish.
After the race, Binotto was buoyant to beat Red Bull in terms of strategy, saying:
“It is great for the team, great for the strategists, great to have done a solid weekend. P2 is the balance of the entire season, not only (the race). We certainly did a proper job. The dummy pit stop on the Red Bull was the right call. Happy for the team. When Ferrari are making mistakes, there is always a lot of criticism, but we know as well these guys can do very well.”
He added:
“I think it was a difficult weekend for tyre degradation and tyre management, not only for us, but it was the case for other drivers and the case for Mercedes and Checo. Pushing too hard on the first laps, the risk was to destroy the tyres so in order to manage it well through the entire stint; you had to be very careful at the start, but you needed a good balance of the car.
The Ferrari boss stressed on the importance of finding the right balance for Sunday, which paid dividends eventually. He said:
"If I look at ourselves, what we did is we started to put some more efforts on the high-fuel runs (on Friday) to make sure we had the right balance for (the race). The balance of the car and the drivers’ capability has made the difference in terms of stint pace and the race distance speed.”
Leclerc prevented a Red Bull 1-2 by splitting the two Red Bull drivers, with Max Verstappen winning a record-extending 15th race of a dominant season.
P2 in constructors for Ferrari means a lot - Charles Leclerc
After securing P2 in the championship, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc looked at the positives as the team secured P2 in the championship by beating Mercedes. He said:
"It was a good race. We executed it perfectly and, as we didn't have the pure pace to beat our competitors, put pressure on them in the key moments, which paid off. It was a season full of ups and downs, but considering where we came from, we made a good step and can be satisfied with our progress."
Leclerc continued:
"I want to thank the whole team, both back home at the factory at and at the track, for all their hard work and dedication. P2 in the Constructors' means a lot, and we don't want to stop here. We have to keep our heads down and push as hard as we can this winter, with the target of winning the title next year."
Ferrari will hope to take the next step in 2023 and win the championship. They finished a whopping 205 points behind winners Red Bull (759) but 39 clear of Mercedes.
