Binotto hails 'fantastic' Ferrari strategy after troubled year

Mattia Binotto has praised Ferrari's "fantastic" strategy team after they engineered a tactical 'dummy' radio call to trigger a Sergio Perez pit stop in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez were battling for the runner-up spot in the championship going into the finale level on points, but the Ferrari driver was behind following the first round of pit-stops.

He was closing in on Perez and on Lap 34, was told to "box, opposite Perez."

Perez and Red Bull bought this bait and covered Leclerc off, who then moved onto a one-stop strategy – setting up a thrilling chase, with the Mexican falling just 1.3 seconds short.

In a year littered with multiple Ferrari strategic errors – including in Monaco, Britain, Hungary, Belgium and Brazil for Leclerc – team boss Binotto was quick to praise the under-fire department.

Binotto praises Ferrari strategy

"We were flexible with both drivers because we knew it would have been somewhere in between the one or the two [stop strategy]," Binotto explained to media, including RacingNews365.com.

"Charles had a bit more margin on the cars behind and could save more of the tyres which gave him the benefit to go for the one-stop.

"It was great to see the team being flexible in choosing one driver [to go on the one-stop] and the second [on a two] to optimise the race results.

"The dummy call on the Red Bull was fantastic.

"Certainly we did a proper job, and overall, we made it right so I'm happy for the team.

"When Ferrari has been making mistakes, there is always a lot of criticism, but I know that these guys can do very well."