Although the protest in Monaco over Max Verstappen's alleged pit-door exit irregularity came to nothing, Mattia Binotto believes that Ferrari's complaint was decisive for the changes made to the pit-door entrance in Baku
The lack of punishment for Max Verstappen for running his wheel over the pit-lane exit line in Monaco has not yet been digested by Ferrari. To Autosport magazine, Mattia Binotto said that he saw "inconsistency in the decisions" of the race direction at the Monte Carlo circuit, even calling attention to the changes that had to be made in Baku to avoid a repetition of the situation.
The controversy in Monaco revolved around an old determination of the regulations, which forbade the driver to drive with the wheel over the white line under any circumstances. Now, however, to be sanctioned, the driver has to deliberately cross the line with his tire. Therefore, Ferrari's protest in Monte Carlo alleging irregularities in Verstappen's return to the track after the pit-stop was not accepted.
Even though he was aware that it would come to nothing, Binotto defended the Italian team's position in asking for a review of the suit involving the Red Bull driver. "I think there was some inconsistency in the decisions. It's one of those decisions that don't make us happy."
"We held the protest, and we kind of knew what the outcome would be. But I think we did the right thing in protesting, just to show that, at least at that point, we didn't agree with the decision," the boss continued. "And we still believe it was not the right decision. So much so that they had to change the race director's notes here in Baku and changed the pit entrance," assessed the Italian, who also sees the complaint in Monaco opening the possibility to discuss a change in the International Sporting Code.
"Overall, I think this kind of discussion and action shows that there was certainly an inconsistency in Monaco. But that's what was decided, and we accepted it. We didn't make any appeal," the Ferrari boss added, also making it clear that it was not about anything specific against Red Bull, the main rival in this year's title fight.
"I think we have a fair fight between the two teams at the moment. We are happy to move forward in that way. This was more to show the FIA that we are dissatisfied with the decisions being made, even though we knew the protest would be rejected," Binotto concluded.