F1 News
Binotto admits: "Red Bull is indeed more efficient at that"
- GPblog.com
The way Ferrari entered the summer break caused (yet again) much indignation among Italian Formula 1 fans. The call for changes within the team is growing, but Mattia Binotto is not responding to it yet. The Ferrari team boss admits that his team could have won more races than it did in the first half of the season, but refuses to point the finger.
Ferrari's F1-75 and Red Bull Racing 's RB18 are a close match, yet Red Bull has increased its lead in the Constructors' Championship to almost 100 points. Does this mean that Ferrari may have the fastest car, but Red Bull are more efficient at racing? Binotto answers in the negative. "The cars have practically the same speed, we are within a tenth of each other. You can't say one car is better than the other," he said in conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport.
Binotto puts disappointing Ferrari results into perspective
According to Binotto the type of circuit, the conditions, the set-up of the car but also the form of the driver have been decisive for the results we have seen so far. "That also applies to the efficiency of the cars," the Italian continued. He adds that Red Bull was better at the start of the season because it had a rear wing that was more efficient when DRS was activated. Ferrari managed to narrow that gap by deploying a new wing.
Binotto is therefore talking about the efficiency of the cars themselves, but not so much about the results achieved. Red Bull was more successful there, even at circuits where the Austrian racing team was not seen as the favourite beforehand. "Out of thirteen races we have won only four, so in that respect Red Bull is indeed more efficient," the Ferrari boss admits.
However, Binotto is convinced his team could have won many more races if it had not encountered problems. "Without our problems we could have won eight times," he continues. The 52-year-old Italian therefore believes the truth lies somewhere in the middle. "Yes, Red Bull had reliability problems too. But they were never in the lead when they retired. With us it was always the other way around."
In terms of stability, Binotto thinks his team has a big disadvantage compared to Red Bull. According to the team boss, this is due to the fact that Ferrari has made a huge effort to develop its power source. This had to be done in a relatively short period of time due to the engine development freeze, which comes into full effect on 1 September. Binotto is convinced that Ferrari has paid the price in reduced reliability.