'Angry' Binotto admits Ferrari problems 'never happened before'

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto says the failures that befell Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in qualifying at Hockenheim were two separate issues that have "never happened before".

Vettel was sidelined at the start of qualifying during his out lap by a turbo issue while Leclerc was hit at the start of Q3 by a fuel pump problem.

The failures were unrelated and had never occurred before revealed an angry and frustrated Binotto.

"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," said the Scuderia boss after quaklifying.

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

• Turbo issue wreaks havoc on 'bitter' Vettel's qualie

"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."

The double qualifying failure was a bitter blow for Ferrari which had dominated all free practice sessions.

"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."

Leclerc will start his race from P10 and vowed to approach Sunday's event armed with a hefty dose of aggression to give Ferrari "something to smile about".

"This is part of racing sometimes and in these moments we need to be strong, the team needs to be strong,” he said.

"They need to keep smiling, with confidence tomorrow I'm sure we can do great things. We have a good car, it's not going to be an easy day but I will give them something to smile about."

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