Not very optimistic, Binotto thinks Ferrari is behind its rivals
Mattia Binotto believes that Ferrari is currently slower than its rivals Mercedes and Red Bull. The Italian team's director says he is not as optimistic as he was during the winter tests of 2019.
Ferrari had dominated the 2019 winter testing but then made less of an impression during the season with “only” three victories. This year, it’s Mercedes that is dominating the tests with Valtteri Bottas who recorded the best time in 1:15.732, while Ferrari’s best lap was credited to Sebastian Vettel at 1:18.154 during Thursday’s session, 2.5 seconds behind.
« I am not as optimistic as last year. At the moment, our competitors are faster than us. How much faster? I think it’s too difficult to judge at the moment, we will go through the data collected over the next few days. » Binotto notably stated.
« Do we have concerns? Certainly, given that we are not as fast as we wish to be. But I think it’s too early to understand and explain it. » emphasized Binotto.
These three days have been very important for us because we were able to collect data that will allow us to have a better understanding of the car. We need to develop the car in the right direction but it’s a very long season with potentially 22 races, so I think we will have time to catch up. » added Binotto.
« Let’s wait for next week and Australia. By then, we will have assessed the performance of each of our competitors. We must not forget what happened during last season ».
Ferrari is not expected to make many changes before Australia. The car will not differ much in Australia, but I think there is still a lot of potential to optimize with the current setup.
