Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was frustrated with how the FIA ran the Safety Car procedure during the Italian GP.
The Safety Car was deployed in the final stages of the Italian GP after Daniel Ricciardo had stopped his car between Lesmo 1 and 2.
Frontrunners Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc made pit stops to get fresh tires for a restart. However, the race ended under the Safety Car.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of changing the rules. The rules have been discussed, largely, especially after Abu Dhabi last year,” Binotto commented on the finish.
“They were discussed with the FIA, F1, and the teams, and we came to a conclusion that the current format is probably the right one to keep. So I don’t think it’s a matter of regulations today.
“I am certainly disappointed for how long it took them to decide, and I think we are not understanding why it took so long to release the cars between the Safety Car and the leader.
“I don’t think safety could be the right reason for it [the delay]. When you are released, as a driver, you cannot go simply flat out around the track because there is a minimum lap time which is set in the regulations.
“And this minimum lap time is there to make sure that whenever they are running and driving, they’re doing it safely. So what we do not understand is, with the current regulations that we believe are right, why it took so long for them to decide.”
