Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto said Charles Leclerc was kept out during the Safety Car at Silverstone in order to preserve track position.

When the Safety Car was deployed due to Esteban Ocon’s stricken Alpine, Ferrari made the call to pit Carlos Sainz for soft tyres, but they left their race leader Leclerc out on his used hard tyres.

Once the race restarted, Sainz soon made the overtake, dismissing Ferrari’s “invention” to give Leclerc 10 car lengths of space as the track returned to green.

As Sainz went on to win, Leclerc dropped behind Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, narrowly fending off the interests of Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris to finish P4.