Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admitted they “screwed up” by failing to get Charles Leclerc to the start line in time to begin his final lap.

Leclerc caught team mate Sebastian Vettel at the end of his out-lap in Q3 and ran out of time to begin his lap as he waited for Vettel to start his.

Binotto said the team took the gamble of sending its cars out last because they wanted to take maximum advantage from the improving track conditions.

“Obviously we knew that we are not too competitive today,” he told Sky. “Especially losing a lot of time in the last sector. In the last attempt we tried to do whatever we could, taking some risks.”

Binotto said it was a “conscious choice” by the team to go out at the “very last minute”. However they left it “too tight”, he said. “We screwed up,” Binotto added.

However he defended the team’s gamble. “I think here we were completely aware and conscious of what could of been the risks,” he said. “It was a risk we knew that we were taking but this didn’t work today.”

Leclerc said he had “no idea” what happened ahead of him which prevented him from being able to start his lap on time. “It’s life sometimes,” he said.

“I don’t know whether the situation was unlucky or whether we could have done anything better. But we’ll analyse it and try to understand for it to not happen again because it’s a big shame.”

Vettel said other cars in front of him prevented him from leaving his team mate enough time to start his lap. “Alex [Albon] was backing up because he had a McLaren in front of him,” he said. “I don’t know who was in front of the McLaren or whether the McLaren could be closer.”

“It was just a pity because my tyres were very cold to start with and I lost it straight in the first corner and Charles didn’t even start a lap.”

Team radio from last run in Q3

Sebastian Vettel To Vettel: You have Albon 16 seconds in front and Charles three seconds behind. To Vettel: You have five seconds margin, you have five seconds margin. To Vettel: Get close to Albon, five seconds margin, 12 seconds in front, Albon. To Vettel: Speed up now. Albon in front 10 seconds. To Vettel: Charles is five seconds behind. Vettel: They’re queueing. To Vettel: We need to go now, go now. Vettel: There’s a queue. To Vettel: Five seconds. To Vettel: That’s it. To Vettel: You can push, you can push. Charles Leclerc To Leclerc: Track is clear, track clear. To Leclerc: We are a bit tight on the out-lap. To Leclerc: We have five second margin. To Leclerc: We need 30 seconds apex 14. To Leclerc: Sebastian in front at 5.2. Leclerc: How much margin? To Leclerc: Zero margin. We need to push. Leclerc: We’re not going to make it. Seb is slowing down. To Leclerc: OK keep going, keep going, we will. To Leclerc: Mode push for last corner. To Leclerc: And keep doing. Leclerc: Ah well. Leclerc: OK. To Leclerc: So stay negative, stay negative. Slow button on.

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2019 F1 season