Carlos Sainz insisted Ferrari are "doing a very good job on strategy" despite a strange pit call which appeared to cost him a podium at the French Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was making good progress up the order after starting 19th on the grid due to penalties for new engine parts. It soon became clear he was his team's only hope for points after Charles Leclerc crashed while leading the race.
But he picked up a five-second time penalty after being given the green light to exit his pit box, almost crashing into Alexander Albon. And then, surprisingly, he was told to pit again while battling and overtaking Sergio Perez for third place, moving him into a podium spot.
With just 10 laps to go, there was not enough time for him to make up those places again even with fresh tyres. He had to settle for fifth, with commentators and pundits expressing their disbelief that Ferrari would throw away what looked like a likely podium finish.
But team chief Mattia Binotto explained: "We don't 'feel' it is the right choice, we are pretty sure it was the right choice. He was short on life and wear and we thought it was risky. We don't think he had the pace to open the gap and fight second. By stopping he did the fastest lap which was another point. It was the safest and right decision.
And Sainz appeared to be satisfied with that explanation, as he defended his team in his post-race interview. "I think the team is doing a very good job on strategy this year," he declared.
"At Ferrari we get super criticised for things that might be going wrong, but every time there is a moment we are discussing things, it is not a disaster like people say we are.
"We like to discuss things, we are open about them – yes I was in the middle of an overtake [when the team called for him to pit] and I didn't think it was the right lap to stop, I believed at the time it was better to risk it and stay out.
"I had made it to P3 and I saw the podium position and thought 'if I make these tyres last maybe I can finish on the podium', but we will never know. The team has a lot more data on the computer and if they make that decision, I'm 100% convinced they did it with the best of intentions. But the team is doing a good job."
