Nico Rosberg Slams Mattia Binotto for ‘Brutal’ Vettel Comments

2016 Formula One champion Nico Rosberg has not been too happy with Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto. This was in regard to the latest comments about Sebastian Vettel’s performance, which Rosberg dubbed as “brutal”.

Earlier at Hockenheim, following Ferrari’s nightmare qualifying session Binotto was questioned about Sebastian Vettel. The subject mostly revolved around Vettel’s career slump at Ferrari.

“How can we help him?” the Italian told RTL. “By being open and honest with him.

“By making it clear — we expect more from him. By telling him he was not as good as he could be.”

“At the moment I would even say that Vettel is maybe overdriving the car, because he wants to compensate for the lack of performance.”

However, Nico Rosberg was fairly surprise at Binotto’s comments on his compatriot. Vettel himself, has been going through a season-long rough patch, right from the 2018 German Grand Prix.

“I see the situation simply,” Nico Rosberg said. “The handling of the Ferrari, particularly with the rear of the car, suits Leclerc better than Vettel.

“Ferrari is currently unable to give him a car in which he feels comfortable. The six drivers in the top three teams are all under extreme pressure. I know because I’ve been in the same situation.”

“But I have to wonder a little bit about Ferrari and how frankly they express themselves. Even Mattia Binotto is criticising Vettel’s driving style in public and saying he overdrives the car. That’s pretty brutal.”

Sebastian Vettel came into this weekend’s Grand Prix, on a mission to end his woes. Unfortunately, Fate had other ideas and decided to toy with him and Scuderia Ferrari. This culminated in both Ferrari cars developing separate issues and starting in 20th and 10th.

After qualifying, a devastated Binotto said, “The entire team is bitterly disappointed. We feel especially sorry for our drivers who were in with the chance of doing something special for the people back in the factory who are working so hard and for all our fans,”

“What we know is that they were two completely different problems, neither of which had ever occurred before.”

“The first indications from Sebastian’s car lead us to believe it could be related to a component on the intercooler.”

“The component is to the same specification as those used previously and it was fitted new. Charles had a problem with the fuel pump control unit.”

It was all the more upsetting, considering that Ferrari had been quick all weekend, topping all three practice sessions.

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“We have shown this weekend that our race pace is good, which makes it even more frustrating that we were not able to show what we could do in qualifying,” he said.

“We are angry with ourselves and I myself feel responsible for what has happened. But I am also aware that we must react calmly and do our best tomorrow. That’s what we’re here to do.”

So now, Sebastian Vettel and Charles LeClerc have it all to do from the back of the pack and the midfield respectively.