Binotto claims Ferrari did not sacrifice Vettel at Silverstone

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto insisted the team did not 'sacrifice' Sebastian Vettel in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix

Vettel spun at the opening corner of the 52 lap grand prix, dropping to the back of the pack.

The German has since revealed that, in a pre-race meeting, he and the team had decided it would be better to leave him out on track on difficult tyres than to pit and exit into traffic.

However, Vettel felt this decision had been ignored during the race and criticised the team over the radio.

Defending the strategy call, Binotto said: “We were not sacrificing Seb. We thought at the time that it would have made no difference for him stopping a bit earlier or later.

“I think that reviewing all the data, eventually by leaving Seb outside on track we may have left at least the one-stop strategy open to him as well, which we didn’t. It’s not a matter of ‘sacrificing’ or not.

“He always says that maximising the team’s points is the first priority. I think we tried to achieve that and not were trying to compromise anyone.”

Binotto also admitted there was nothing more the team could have extracted from the weekend, putting Vettel's 12th place result down solely to his first lap spin.

Vettel disagrees and said: "I had a good start but then I am not quite sure.

"I wanted to stay out of trouble in turn one, making sure that I get a good run into the next section of corners and then I'm not sure. It felt at the time as if I got a hit but I guess the hit might have come from the kerb.

"Being in the pack, I lost the car which was a surprise, it caught me out and obviously, we lost a lot of places. From there though, I still feel we could have done a better recovery."

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