I don't remember another case of a team humiliating their best driver so consistently and in such a careless and carefree manner, even publicly scolding him for daring to be disappointed.
We can talk about "Valtteri, it's James" and about Perez being a doormat all we want, but at least Mercedes and Racist Bull have a HIERARCHY.
Ferrari won't even do THAT.
But it's OBVIOUS to anyone with a brain that Charles should be the #1 driver and Sainz the #2.
The team will congratulate Sainz for not crashing into walls or taking a trip into gravel and coddle him like a baby, but will shit all over their best driver, giving him shitty strategies and letting their #2 driver (which is supposed to HELP the #1) do whatever he wants, make his own strategy along the way, defy orders, attack the #1 instead of defending him.
They even sold out to a freaking Spanish bank and gave Sainz his first ever win after 150 damn races.
"Charles wasn't able to close the gap to Max". Charles? CHARLES? The same Charles you abandoned to fight alone? The same Charles you refused a pit stop and fresh tyres to? The same Charles who held off a 7 time world champion and a Racist Bull rocket ship on old hard tyres and with a broken wing? While everyone else had fresh tyres and their cars in the best possible shape????
Fuck you, Binotto. Take some responsibility instead of shitting all over Charles.
He did all he could. Even better: after realizing you had fucked up his race for the 5th time in a row, instead of telling you to go fuck yourselves, Charles became a beast and defended Sainz to give Ferrari a chance at winning. Without him, Sainz would have finished 3rd.
All because you had made up your mind to give Sainz his first win right before Canada. Breaking news: THAT was the perfect race to do that, with Charles starting last and with little hope for a win. But wait, you made Charles waste time with a slow pit stop, so Sainz was alone fighting against Max, with no one holding Max back. Of course he lost.
THIS race though, was CRUCIAL for Charles because Max was off the podium.
Had Charles won, he would be second in the championship now.
Charles was first in the standings after some incredible races and a grand chelem. He would still be first if the team didn't screw him over.
Let me repeat that, Charles' failures were caused by Ferrari in one way or another, either because of the engine blowing up or the shitty strategy prioritizing Sainz.
The only exception was Imola. Let that sink in.
Out of 10 races, Charles only lost ONE because of his own mistake (and a dose of bad luck because he had no grip at the start).
The others were lost because of Ferrari (yes, even Miami since the car wasn't fast enough compared to Max's and Sainz didn't defend Charles at all: team strategy = 💩).
Some easy wins thrown in the trash, with Sainz making podium instead of him, with Binotto complimenting him for always being there to pick up the pieces.
No, Mattia, you hand him the pieces on a silver platter while Charles is left to starve and fight alone.
You take Charles for granted. You treat Sainz like a baby that needs help taking his first steps, you hold his hand all the way to the finish line. Charles is the older child running a marathon, expected to make it on his own and scolded when he can't.
It should be the other way around, not only because Sainz is older, but because he's been in F1 for longer (8 seasons and 150 races) and yet never won or put it on pole until this weekend. And that only happened because Charles sacrificed himself to defend him. It's obvious to anyone that Charles is the better driver, the better teammate, and the better person.
Charles is sacrificing himself, he's turning himself into the #2 driver to protect the team and give Ferrari a chance for wins, because he grew up on bread and Ferrari and loves you too damn much.
He's wasting his talent and skill for you and all you do is humiliate him.
No wonder half of the team initially refused to celebrate Sainz's victory or pose for pictures.
You deserve a fucking civil war.
