Flavio Briatore believes Ferrari have not made progress but have not lost ground on rivals Mercedes following their disappointing Australian Grand Prix performance which saw both of their cars finish outside the podium places.
Sebastian Vettel finished fourth after being overtaken by Max Verstappen but it could’ve been worse for the German as only team orders prevented Charles Leclerc from overtaking the German. The Scuderia had been in a strong position following their dominance in pre-season testing but Briatore feels they have made no progress on the dominant Mercedes team.
“Absolutely nothing has changed,” Briatore told Radio Capital.
“They had three months to prepare the cars but the gap was the same as the last few races [in 2018], Ferrari has not lost ground against Mercedes but has not made up any either.
“The Australian Grand Prix can be a bit abnormal, but if you’re strong, you’re strong everywhere.
“The apology book starts at the first race, it’s very hard.”
Nobody has been able to compete with Mercedes in recent years winning the last five seasons but Briatore hinted at how to beat them.
“To beat Mercedes you have to find eight or nine tenths.
“Until then they will continue to dominate,” added the Italian.
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