Binotto admits concern at Ferrari over reliability

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admitted there is concern about the reliability of the team's cars heading into tomorrow's British GP, the first of four races in a packed July.

Carlos Sainz picked up pole position for the race despite a final qualifying lap he didn't think was 'anything special', while Charles Leclerc will start from P3 after spinning in the wet conditions.

"It was tricky for everyone out there but he set the best one," Binotto told Channel 4 of Sainz' maiden pole position. "We could see it on the GPS - we knew, but he thought the lap was not good enough!"

• Read also: Sainz pips Verstappen in thrilling wet British GP qualifying

After rain in FP1 and now qualifying, the forecast for Sunday is for dry conditions for the race. A lack of dry running makes the choice of tyre strategy even more difficult for everyone.

"I think it will be a guess between one stop or two," ventured Binotto. "It will be something teams will decide after a few laps by looking at the tyres.

"We've not had a lot of dry laps so for, or many on high fuel," he added. "I think we'll have different strategies on the track, and that will be great."

But after a spate of issues for the Ferrari power unit - which included a blow-up for Leclerc in Azerbaijan that incurred grid penalties for replacement parts in Montreal - Binotto admitted reliability was a concern.

"We've got fresh components and I hope that we will not have any issues this weekend but you never know when it comes to reliability," he acknowledged, with Leclerc revealing the team had experienced PU 'issues' on Friday.

"It's a concern for us, maybe for the others as well," he conceded. "It's a concern for everyone. It's certainly an important element, a key element for the result

"But we are focused on the race we are not thinking of reliability, at least for this weekend, and hopefully they will cross the chequered flag in the right positions."

Leclerc missing out on pole today was nothing to do with his Friday issues which were put down to set-up problems. Instead it was a spin on his final push lap that meant he missed out on a front row start.

"I knew it was the lap where I had to put everything together and I didn't as a driver, so I didn't deserve to be on pole," said the Monegasque.

"P3 is still a good position to start in tomorrow, and hopefully putting everything together we can come back," he added. "I think the pace is there, so if we have a clean race, then everything should go well.

"A good start and then obviously tyre management will be a important too," he added when asked what the plan was for the race.

"The strategy is a bit mixed between one and two stops, so it will be interesting to see who is going for the one-stop or the two-stop," he added. "Hopefully we'll make the right choice and come back to where we want to be."

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