Ferrari has evidently stumbled in the last few races after a dream start to the 2022 championship. The Italian Racing team and Charles Leclerc were on top of the constructors and drivers\’ rankings, with wins early in the season. However, things have not gone the Scuderia way as Leclerc retired twice in the last three races. Thus, the Monegasque and Ferrari were replaced by Max Verstappen and Red Bull on top with five consecutive wins.
As the Scuderia looks to make a comeback in Montreal, the team boss Mattia Binotto has raised a concern about the new F1 race directors. Binotto has claimed that his team had to deal with an unfair disadvantage due to the decisions made by the new race directors in the current season. Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas were assigned as F1\’s new race directors for the 2022 championship. They do their job during the racing weekends alternatively.
The FIA recruited Wittich from the German DTM series, while Eduardo was brought in from the World Endurance championship. The German and Portuguese officials replaced Michael Masi this season. He had been sacked after his controversial decision during a season-decision Abu Dhabi GP. An unprecedented interpretation of the safety car rules cost Lewis Hamilton a championship win, and the title went to Max Verstappen.
However, Wittich and Freitas\’ decision during the first phase of the season has not been without controversy. There have been a number of occasions when the race directors\’ decisions have been questioned. Wittich openly targeted Hamilton, following a ban on jewelry, attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Moreover, the use of yellow and red flags has also been questioned during a number of races.
Binotto Unhappy With The Unfair Decision-Making
The Ferrari team principal thinks that his outfit has been unfairly targeted during this season. He understood that being a race director is not an easy job as they have to be there, sit, and decide. Binotto felt that the race directors were fairly new and would need some time to fit in. However, Mattia was not happy with the decisions against his team and felt the decisions had disadvantaged them. He added, \”But that\’s the way its is. We understand the difficulty.\”
Moreover, the Ferrari Boss said that Wittich and Freitas must be given some time to improve. However, that must be done quickly. Binotto suggested that the team needed to help the directors to improve the decision-making. Mattia said, \”Collaboration between the teams and the race directors, to make sure they understand, they improve as fast as possible.\”
The Ferrari boss had no doubts about the inconsistent decision in the season, which cannot be denied. Thus, Mattia thinks that it would take some and that the teams needed to fasten it as soon as possible.