F1 News
Binotto expects Ferrari to struggle at Silverstone
- Bevan Youl
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto expects that Ferrari will struggle to cope with the Silverstone circuit with a strong test of set-up and balance.
After Max Verstappen’s win in Austria for Red Bull, it means Ferrari is the only ‘big three’ team without a win so far this season.
Charles Leclerc came close in Bahrain before engine problems struck and Sebastian Vettel finished first in Canada but due to a five-second time penalty ended up second behind Championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Last year at the British Grand Prix Vettel came out on top ahead of the Mercedes to take an excellent victory, but Binotto doesn’t expect the SF90 to perform as well.
Binotto said in Scuderia’s preview ahead of the British GP: “Silverstone is one of the toughest tracks of the season, providing a real test of a car’s set-up and balance.
“Tyres also come under a lot of strain here and the amount they wear plays a key role in how your race pans out.
“We do not expect Silverstone to suit our car particularly well, but at every race, we have seen that the balance of power can change, often unexpectedly.”
Ferrari plan on bringing further aerodynamic developments to this weekend to help further understand what improvements have been made.
“For the British Grand Prix we are bringing a further small aerodynamic modification as we continue to push hard on the development of our car,” Binotto added.
“The weekend will also be an opportunity to increase our understanding of the recent work we did, which has seen us close the gap to our competitors on specific types of track.”