“The FIA was caught sleeping”- Ferrari boss blasts FIA over controversial end to Italian GP

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was not happy with the way the ending of the Italian GP in Monza on Sunday was managed by the FIA.

A late-race PU failure for Daniel Ricciardo forced the McLaren driver to park his car on the side of the track. With only six laps left, there was an outside chance of a safety car restart, but that did not materialise, and the race ended behind the safety car.

Binotto lashed out at the FIA for not being ready to deal with the situation. Calling it a 'shame'. the Ferrari boss said:

“We don’t know how it would have ended, but it’s a shame. There were conditions to start the race a little earlier. There was no reason to wait. Today, the FIA was caught sleeping; maybe they are not ready to deal with these situations."

He did, however, add that Max Verstappen was very strong throughout the race and deserved to win. Binotto also acknowledged a good weekend for the team - with Charles Leclerc starting at pole and finishing second, while Carlos Sainz narrowly missed the podium.

“Today, Max was very strong," said the Ferrari boss. "When the safety car came out, we had more degradation, and I think it would have been difficult to take him back. Carlos also had a splendid race, and I think he could have tried to catch Russell and get on the podium. But it was a nice weekend, and I want to thank our fantastic fans.”

Verstappen was also asked about the bizarre ending and whether he would have preferred the race not ending behind the safety car. The Red Bull driver replied in the affirmative but said that the problem was with the extraction of Ricciardo's car that led to the delay. He said:

"Yeah - but from what I understood, was that the car was stuck in gear and that's why it took so long . Because, of course, when the car's parked there, there is no gap where you can push the car into, compared to some other places."

He added due to a shortage of laps and the delay in extracting Ricciardo's car, the race couldn't end under the green flag. The Dutchman said:

"And that's why the crane had to come. And that's why I guess they just run out of time. So, I guess it was very unfortunate. Normally, I think everyone wants to finish under green flag. But yeah, unfortunately, we were just short of laps."

Verstappen (335) won his fifth race on the trot - 11th overall - and could seal the World Championship at the next race in Singapore. He leads Leclerc by 116 points.

---

"I really wanted this race to start again" - Ferrari's Charles Leclerc

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc felt that maybe a one-lap shootout was possible for the race but admitted he did not have complete knowledge of the situation to comment on it. The Monagesque said:

"Yeah, obviously I really wanted for this race to start again. But yeah, I mean, from the car, I didn't understand because the last time we passed through, the track was clean. So, I really thought that we will restart again. But it didn't happen. So maybe there are things in the background that I didn't know that didn't make the restart possible."

It's unclear if Leclerc would have had an advantage in the one-lap shootout, but he would have fancied his chances, as Ferrari were faster on the straights.