The Italian Grand Prix fans were booing the FIA not race winner Max Verstappen according to Ferrari Formula 1 team boss Mattia Binotto, who was “disappointed” at how the late-race safety car was handled.
Verstappen looked set for a comfortable win at Monza after Red Bull outfoxed and outpaced Ferrari, leaving Verstappen with a healthy leading margin until Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren broke down.
Ricciardo’s stricken McLaren prompted a safety car on lap 48 of 53 but the marshals were unable to clear Ricciardo’s car in time for the race to be restarted, despite a lengthy stoppage.
This was followed by widespread booing from the Italian GP crowd after the race, which appeared to be directed at Max Verstappen as it began when he started his post-race interview in parc ferme.
But Binotto claimed the fans’ booing was a message to the FIA for its slow handling of the situation.
“Booing a driver is never great, especially Max, the fastest driver on track and a deserving winner, it’s not good,” Binotto said.
“The booing from our Tifosi was more towards the FIA and simply by booing the winner, it was trying to boo the FIA.
“The Tifosi out there believed the safety car could have ended and [we could] have had a couple of laps for the show today, for the battles on track.”
Verstappen said he was unmoved by the booing and that “it’s not going to spoil my day”.
“When it happens, of course everyone speaks to me about it, with the booing and stuff,” he said.
“But I’m here to try and win the race, which we’ve done. Some people, they can’t appreciate that, but that’s of course because they’re very passionate fans of a different team. And… it is what it is.”
Runner-up Leclerc was more concise in his response.
“Nobody likes booing,” he said. “And I think it shouldn’t happen. That’s it.”
Speaking about the way in which the race ended, Binotto said his problem was not with the current regulations surrounding late-race safety car periods but how the rules were applied by the new-for-2022 race control team – led this weekend by Eduardo Freitas.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of changing the rules, the rules have been discussed a lot especially after Abu Dhabi last year,” he added.
“They have been discussed by FIA, F1, teams and we came to a conclusion that the current format is the probably the right one to keep. It’s not a matter of regulation.
“Today I’m certainly disappointed for how long it took to decide. That’s what we’re not understanding why it took so long to release the cars between the safety car and the leader.
“I don’t think safety is the reason because when you’re released, you cannot go flat out around the track because there is a minimum laptime which is set as per the regulations and this minimum laptime is there to make sure the drivers are doing it safely.
“They need to do a better job in the future because it’s not good for F1.”
Binotto refuted claims that he was only advocating for a restart because it was potentially beneficial for the team as it would have given Leclerc, who had previously been over 17 seconds behind Verstappen, a chance of overhauling the Red Bull on the restart.
“If the safety car had ended, where would have Ferrari ended? I don’t know,” Binotto said.
“Max was simply the fastest car and on new tyres, but generally speaking we should try end the safety car as soon as possible and give more race time for the drivers.”
The Race put the FIA’s explanation – which revealed Ricciardo’s car being stuck in gear made the recovery process longer than usual – to Binotto but the Ferrari boss doubled down on his position.
“I accept it, I understand it, it may have been complicated, but still with the safety car, they could have done a better job to prepare the train of cars to be ready for the start of the race,” Binotto said.
“Simply that didn’t happen, that was wrong and could have been done better without changing the regulations. The regulations are in place, it’s just a matter of applying them in a better way.”
Binotto’s view was shared by his opposing team boss at Red Bull, Christian Horner, who said F1 fans were robbed of a “grandstand finish” by the slow recovery.
And prior to the above interview, Binotto told Sky Sports F1 that “more experience” was needed within the race control team and that F1 fans “deserve better” than the finish to this race.
