On Sunday, minutes after the Brazilian GP, ​​Mattia Binotto appeared in the usual corrillo before journalists with a countenance that said it all. The Ferrari chief tried to put some sanity after the incident between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc during lap 66 in Interlagos. "It was a small shock that had great consequences," said the Italian engineer after double zero of his cars.

Binotto will meet in the next few hours with his pilots to clarify what happened in Sao Paulo, when Leclerc beat Vettel in turn 1 and the furious German reaction in a straight line caused the consequent retreats. "Today both were free to fight and they knew it. We let them compete but it is the kind of thing that should never happen," said the top sports manager of the Scuderia .

The incident ended a streak of 46 consecutive Ferrari races at points. The last zero, interestingly, dated to the Singapore GP 2017, with a Max Verstappen onslaught that led the red duo ahead, then formed by Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Leclerc loses third place

In the absence of a single race for the final of the championship, the most damaged on Sunday was Leclerc, who lost third place in favor of Verstappen, now with 11 points (260-249). Within two weeks, the Dutch will secure this privilege with a third place in the Abu Dhabi GP.

"Freedom to fight does not mean committing stupid actions," Binotto endorsed, without explicitly pointing out, individually, to Leclerc or Vettel. The first suffered a rupture of the right front suspension, while the four-time champion suffered a puncture in the left rear wheel.

"A shame for the team"

Shortly after the race, after a brief conversation with Binotto, the Monegasque also appeared before the microphones. "I am not angry, but I am sorry for the team," he said before describing the two maneuvers. "In curve 1 my overtaking was clean. I was ahead and I knew that Seb would try. I covered the interior and tried it on the outside. I knew it was there. Although there was little space he tried to close me a little and we touched," he said.

Vettel, on the other hand, clarified that "it came out better" of curve 3 and "did not have much space" on the right side. "I tried to overtake him. That's all," the alleged team leader said. "It is a shame for the team, which is who has priority," settled the German, who in 2010, shortly before closing his first world title with Red Bull, already starred in a similar incident with Mark Webber in the Turkish GP.

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