Changeable weather conditions at Silverstone this weekend have left Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto clueless as to what strategy is best for the British Grand Prix.
The Italian team is in a great position to start the race following a surprise qualifying result. Charles Leclerc was expected to be their best chance of beating Max Verstappen to pole position, but it was Carlos Sainz who set the fastest time in a very wet Q3 on Saturday.
Having Sainz ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc ahead of Sergio Perez is an ideal outcome for Ferrari, as finishing the race in the same way would see them close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' title hunt. But when asked after qualifying what the plan was for the race itself, Binotto said he did not even know the answer to that himself.
"Coming here to Silverstone in such difficult weather conditions, a difficult track, being P1 and P3, it is a great result that shows that overall, the team, the drivers and the car can be competitive," the Italian told Sky Sports F1.
"We will stay focused on the race. The strategy – one or two pit stops? No idea. Which tyres to choose? Again, no idea. There could be different scenarios out there, and tyre management, we know here the front-left is always an issue with the amount of energy."
Those unconvincing comments come in the wake of a difficult few weeks for Ferrari. Engine reliability issues have cost them a lot of points already this season, while a major tactical blunder compromised Leclerc to hand Perez victory at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Ex-F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya warned this week that Binotto might face a fight to keep his job unless he can prevent any further costly mishaps on race days. "They keep making bad calls," said the Colombian. "It's tough because Red Bull are very aggressive with their strategy.
"In a way you can say Red Bull have a lot of luck because they get the safety cars at the right time. Things always go their way – Monaco with Checo, Ferrari had like a four-second lead when they called Charles in and he lost four second between the in-lap and the pitstop. He came up behind and it was like, 'how did that happen?'
"I think Ferrari it is known that if you don't perform they'll put somebody else in charge. They are not afraid of making changes. And sometimes the consistency goes away, and that's a difficult one."
