Binotto on Ferrari's biggest problem: "That is the top priority"

At the end of November, Ferrari announced the departure of Mattia Binotto, confirming persistent rumours about the Italian's position. Over a week earlier, after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the former team boss was still discussing what needs to happen at the Scuderia to have a better Formula 1 season in 2023.

It was during the last race of the year that Ferrari came out strongly and made all the right decisions in terms of tyre choice and strategies. Partly as a result, Charles Leclerc managed to trounce Red Bull Racing rival Sergio Perez in the battle for second place in the championship.

After the race, Binotto looked back on the F1 season and admitted that there are lessons to be learned. Those lessons, according to the former team principal, are in several areas. "First, reliability. That’s our top priority because in order to win you need to be reliable and that has not been the case in the season, as a balance of the season itself," he is quoted by The Race.

He continued, "The second is the speed of the car, because while we have been very competitive in quali, that has not always been the case in the race itself." Binotto acknowledged that Ferrari's race pace was not enough to improve its position, whether that was due to tyre degradation or pure race pace.

Besides these two issues, Ferrari faced a lot of criticism for various strategic lapses, but that is not a priority as far as Binotto is concerned, although he admitted that it should be looked at. "If you develop a fast and a reliable car, yes you may do mistakes on strategies or pitstops, but you can always compensate through the fact that the car itself is fast and reliable."