Mattia Binotto Opens Up on Strange Radio Message to Charles LeClerc

Charles LeClerc held off a dual Mercedes attack to score Ferrari’s first win at Monza since 2010. After the Monegasque driver crossed the chequered flag Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto delivered an unusual message on the radio.

Binotto simply said “oggi sei perdonato”, which means ‘today you are forgiven’ in Italian.

So, during the post-race press conference, Binotto was asked about the significance of the message.

“‘Oggi sei perdonato’ – it means that whatever happens in the last days that we discussed – that’s something that will remain between our three – at least today he did a good job,” said Binotto. “That’s for me as a way of telling him that today at least we’re happy for the job he did.”

Admittedly, Binotto remained mum on what exactly Leclerc needed to be ‘forgiven’ for. However, it was worth mentioning that teammate Sebastian Vettel was unhappy with Leclerc’s driving in qualifying on Saturday.

Vettel had given his team mate the benefit of the all-important tow in their first run in Q3. In a perfect world, Charles Leclerc was expected to return the favour on their subsequent run.

However Vettel overtook Leclerc shortly after they left the pits and Leclerc did not re-pass his team mate until the end of the lap. By then, it was too late for either of them to complete their final runs.

This was because, blunders from all teams, and the drivers’ pigheadedness resulted in a kerfuffle. That muddle only witnessed Carlos Sainz crossing the line on time to start a timed lap. Apparently, everyone wanted a tow from each other, so they were all backing into each other. This was in spite of the fact that the FIA warned against that very thing. Bizarrely, every driver escaped a penalty for the farcical end to Q3.

Vettel qualified fourth while Leclerc took pole position. After the race Leclerc said Vettel had been “extremely unlucky” in qualifying.